MEDIA ADVISORY
EVENT DATE: AUGUST 15, 2024

Contacts:    For PHA: Nichole Tillman, [email protected]; 215-888-2869

READY, SET, LEARN

PHA and Sharswood Grocery Outlet Host a Backpack Giveaway and Resource Fair to Get Students Ready for Classes

WHAT: A DJ will spin the tunes as Sharswood Grocery Outlet, owned by celebrated youth entrepreneur Donta Rose, partners with the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) to sponsor a backpack giveaway and resource fair. PHA and Grocery Outlet will provide up to 1,000 free book bags – filled with notebooks, pencils, and other essential school supplies – for elementary, middle school, and high school students on a first-come, first-served basis. It’s a back-to-school celebration as PHA’s public safety officers serve up water ice to children, a jump rope competition gets underway, dancers kick up their heels, and 500 campers from PHA’s summer camp program gather to celebrate a rite of passage:  PHA’s Dare to Prepare Celebration. PHA’s CEO and President, Kelvin A. Jeremiah, will attend and speak.

WHEN: 11:30 to 3 PM Thursday, August 15, 2024

WHERE: The corner of Jefferson Street and Ridge Avenue, near PHA’s headquarters, and the Grocery Outlet parking lot at 2077 Ridge Avenue. Come check out the new Sharswood Ridge, which has an urgent care center, bank, gym, and grocery serving the thriving and newly renovated neighborhood.

VISUALS: Ed Snider Youth Hockey and Education and the Eagles Eye Mobile Lab Van join the PHA lineup of partners this year. Tasty treats will be available from the Ugly Plate Food Truck, with a menu of hotdogs, hamburgers, and sausages for guests and grab-and-go boxes for children participating in one of PHA’s summer camps.  More than 40 partner organizations will offer services and resources to the youth, including Right 2 Read Philly, the Black Brain Campaign, Boys and Girls Club of Philadelphia, Everest Urgent Care, U.S Navy, Philadelphia Job Corp. Youth Build, Educators 4 Education, Temple University WELL Program, and more.

MEDIA ADVISORY

EVENT DATE: Wednesday, August 16, 2023

Media Contact:
Nichole Tillman: 215-684-4139/215-888-2869 

PHA Hosts a Spelling Bee for Residents

As It Keeps the Momentum Going

For Immediate Release

June 24, 2024

Contact

Natalie Adams (Casey): 202-228-3789

Charlie Hills (Fetterman): 202-228-6099

Ben Turner (Evans): 202-225-4001

Casey, Fetterman, Evans Announce $21 Million for Philadelphia Housing Authority’s Westpark Redevelopment

Grant to connect Westpark Redevelopment to park, SEPTA station

Funding comes from RAISE grants, thanks to the infrastructure law

Members have secured highly competitive RAISE grants for Philadelphia for four consecutive years—each year since infrastructure law passed

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and John Fetterman (D-PA) and U.S. Representative Dwight Evans (D-PA-3) announced $21,395,555 from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA). The grant will support the creation of a new of street grid and pedestrian infrastructure to facilitate the redevelopment of the Westpark Apartments in West Philly. The funding comes from a Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability & Equity (RAISE) Grant, funded by the Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act (IIJA).

“From visiting housing developments across Philadelphia, I’ve seen firsthand the transformational work PHA does to not only provide safe, affordable housing, but build vibrant communities,” said Senator Casey. “I fought for this funding to better connect Westpark residents with resources and opportunities in their community and beyond. I’ll keep working to deliver funding to make Philadelphia more livable for all who call the city home.”

“Any day that we can announce more federal dollars heading to Pennsylvania is a good day,” said Senator Fetterman. “This RAISE grant will support the infrastructure needed to create the new Westpark housing development and connect the campus to transit and green space. This is a smart, thoughtful project that will greatly improve the lives of the people who will live at the redeveloped Westpark Apartments. It exemplifies that values of PHA and is a stellar example of the critical work they do. I’m proud to have fought alongside Senator Casey and Congressman Evans for this funding.”

 “This is great news for West Philadelphia and another way that the Biden Infrastructure and Jobs Act I voted for continues to deliver for Philadelphia and the region. I thank Senators Casey and Fetterman for their continued partnership as we work together to deliver for our shared constituents,” said Congressman Evans.

 “We at PHA are extremely grateful to Senator Casey, Senator Fetterman, Congressman Evans, and all our federal partners for this exciting news,” said PHA President and CEO Kelvin A. Jeremiah. “The grant marks a tremendous milestone in the redevelopment of Westpark. It will ensure that once the project is complete, residents will have ready access to SEPTA and to public parkland. Senator Casey, who advocated for this grant, proves once again that he is a true champion for expanding housing opportunities in Philadelphia and across the state. And I’m confident that Westpark will serve as a national model for a 21st century public housing and affordable housing development.”

This project will construct an extension of the existing street grid in West Philadelphia in order to create new space for housing and connect the Westpark Apartments campus to SEPTA’s 46^th Street station. It will support a new network of shared streets, sidewalks, and bike infrastructure that will create the roads necessary to integrate new, forthcoming housing more seamlessly into the neighborhood.

2024 marks the fourth consecutive year the Members of Congress have secured highly competitive RAISE grants for infrastructure projects in Philadelphia. Last year, SEPTA received $25 million to modernize trolleys and the City received the same amount for the North Philadelphia School Zone Traffic Safety Project. In 2022, the “Great Streets PHL” project was awarded $25 million to make safety improvements to high-crash corridors in historically disadvantaged communities and areas of persistent poverty. In 2021, shortly following passage of IIJA, SEPTA won $15 million to renovate the 19th and 37th Street Trolley Subway Stations and make them accessible for people with disabilities. To see more federal investments Senator Casey has delivered to Philadelphia and the Commonwealth, click here.

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PHA is the only Housing Authority in the country to receive three CNI Implementation Grants.

Contact: Nichole Tillman, [email protected]; 215-888-2869                               

Philadelphia, PA. (June 20, 2024) ‑ The Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) proudly hosted U.S. Senator Bob Casey recently as he toured PHA’s Sharswood Blumberg Development, one of the sites that has received coveted Choice Neighborhoods Implementation (CNI) Grants due to the Senator’s support.

Recently, Senator Casey visited Sharswood, a historically disadvantaged community where PHA-led developments, fueled by a $30 million CNI grant, have resulted in new capital investments, job-creating businesses, and community amenities such as a bank, a restored park and a grocery. The Senator has long championed CNI Grants as an important means to transform neighborhoods in Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania.

“It was an honor to show Senator Casey first-hand the results of his longstanding support for PHA and for CNI funding,” said Kelvin Jeremiah, the President & CEO of the Philadelphia Housing Authority. “His visit to Philadelphia shows the deep roots of his commitment to this city, and to ensuring that all residents have safe and affordable housing. These projects are truly a lifeline to many Philadelphians in need, and I’m hopeful that as our work continues, Senator Casey’s vital support will continue as well.”

“Housing is more than just a roof over your head; it’s the place where safety, well-being, and community start,” Senator Casey said. “As the foundation of a neighborhood, housing determines whether businesses can thrive, the potential of future economic development, and the sense of community that residents feel. I am grateful to Kelvin Jeremiah and the Philadelphia Housing Authority team for their commitment to providing quality housing, revitalizing neighborhoods, and working to build strong communities.”

Thanks to the Senator’s support, PHA is the nation’s first housing authority to receive grants to revive three neglected and forgotten neighborhoods, and the only one to bring more than $110 million in CNI funding back to its city. In November 2013, PHA, working with 23 partners, received a planning grant of $500,000. This supported the development of a successful transformation plan for both the Blumberg site as well as the surrounding Blumberg/Sharswood neighborhood. Then in 2020, the effort received a far more substantial $30 million CNI grant to implement the transformation plan. It is that ongoing work which Senator Casey toured.

The other two projects to receive CNI funding are the North Central Philadelphia Transformation Plan ($30 million awarded in 2014) and Bartram Village in Southwest Philadelphia ($50 million awarded in 2023). No other U.S. city has received three such major grants. PHA also received a Choice Neighborhoods planning grant of $500,000 to reimagine Yorktown, and the Harrison low-rise buildings.

Choice Neighborhoods Implementation grants are administered by the U.S. Housing of Urban Development (HUD) and the support of federal elected officials such as Sen. Casey is essential. The program has a three-pronged “Housing, People, and Neighborhood” approach that includes the redevelopment of distressed properties and supportive services related to the residents’ health, education, and income while investing in economic development and neighborhood improvement projects. A two-year Planning Grant will allow the new awardees to create and build support for a comprehensive “Transformation Plan” that addresses the program’s Housing, People, and Neighborhood goals.

PHA President Jeremiah continued: “With the support of our federal partners, PHA can transform another strategically located neighborhood into a resource-rich area community that provides new housing, along with crucial supportive services like career training and enrichment programs that support mobility. I have always said: we cannot do this important work alone. It requires coordinated strategy and an alignment of resources on the federal, state, and local levels to maximize affordable housing production while preserving the existing affordable housing stock.”

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The Philadelphia Housing Authority

The Philadelphia Housing Authority is the nation’s 4th largest housing authority, serving nearly 80,000 residents The Philadelphia Housing Authority’s mission is to open doors to affordable housing, economic opportunity, and safe sustainable communities to benefit Philadelphia residents with low incomes. To learn more visit www.pha.phila.gov