H.O.M.E. Growin'

by Sue Sierra

The old convent of St. Elizabeth's Parish is a stately stone building on an otherwise blighted North Philadelphia corner. The parish closed in 1993, and the neighborhood soon learned that Project H.O.M.E., the homeless services organization run by the indefatigable Sister Mary Scullion, planned to open a recovery house for homeless, drug-addicted men. The initial reaction was not positive.

"We said, "Look around! Don't you see we got enough problems here?" recalls longtime neighborhood leader Helen Brown. Eventually, neighbors and Sister Mary struck a deal: Project H.O.M.E. could open the facility if they made an ongoing commitment to the community — and if Sister Mary agreed to live there. So, Sister Mary moved in.

Today, the St. Elizabeth's Community Center in the parish rectory is just one way Project H.O.M.E. contributes to the 33 square blocks around St. Elizabeth's. It has renovated 19 abandoned houses in the neighborhood, and nine rehabs are underway in the Diamond Street community across the railroad tracks.

Project H.O.M.E. has completely transformed the 1900 block of Judson Street near St. Elizabeth's. The 38,000-square-foot Honickman Learning Center and Comcast Technology Labs grabbed headlines with its April grand opening. The massive building takes up 11 formerly vacant lots. Housing with services for 32 formerly homeless families fills the other end of the block. Private houses and a sitting garden round out the street.

The Learning Center is a $13.5 million effort to boost adult and youth education and employment in the neighborhood, integrating technology with education, art and enterprise. Through training programs and hundreds of computers, neighborhood kids direct films, produce a newspaper and mix music. Nothing like this exists in any other low-income community in the nation, although several are now trying to replicate it.

Now, Project H.O.M.E. is about to launch the next phase of an ambitious three-stage initiative to renovate 45 vacant properties and build 11 new houses. When completed, five blocks will become fully occupied. The initiative was just awarded nearly $1 million in state funding: the first time the state has financed a home rehabilitation of this scale in Philadelphia. Project H.O.M.E. is also working with businesses on nearby Ridge Avenue and has created 22 neighborhood gardens.

Since Sister Mary turned her vision and fund-raising savvy towards revitalizing the St. Elizabeth's community, Project H.O.M.E. has brought $32 million to the neighborhood. "Before, people didn't see anything to stay around for," says Brown, now Project H.O.M.E.'s community organizer. "Now, people want to stay."