Programs + Services

 

Serving men and women experiencing homelessness requires that we work together with partners to meet the needs of every person who comes to Philly House.

 
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Services We Offer

 

We empower everyone we serve through trauma-informed care, a model that emphasizes more holistic, relational, long-term solutions.

Philly House serves more than 2,600 unique homeless men each year with excellence and compassion. Spiritual Recovery, Spiritual Care and Progressive Case Management are a few of the programs at Philly House

 
 

Spiritual Care

Bible studies, prayer groups, morning devotions, church and one-on-one meetings are only one part of Philly House’s Spiritual Care services. Our Spiritual Care program is designed to help men fighting homelessness become restored. Their needs are diverse and we strive to meet each person where they are with the love of God and the comprehensive services that can lead them to wholeness. That means that spiritual care includes attending a sports event, visiting museums, visiting an arboretum or playing chess.

We activate healing not handouts, through deep, intentional engagement so that the homeless, hungry and hurting can achieve stability and self-sufficiency.

Behavioral Health

This includes peer to peer support groups and one-on-one care. Weekly field trips to local museums, parks, and entertainment facilities foster healthy connections to the community.

Physical Health

Since 1997, Philly House has partnered with the JeffHope Clinic to provide a weekly full service medical services at Philly House every Tuesday from 5pm-9:30pm. Beginning in 2012, Philly House partnered with Best Foot Forward Philly who host a bi-weekly foot clinic for guests every other Thursday from 5:30pm-8:00pm.

 
 

Legal Services

The Homeless Advocacy Project (HAP) has provided monthly civil legal clinics at Philly House for more than a decade. HAP’s services include accessing benefits like SSI and SNAP; obtaining Veterans benefits, health care, and discharge upgrades; enforcing family law rights; securing shelter and other supportive services; and replacing or correcting identity documents.

Job Placements

Philly House has collaborated with First Step Staffing since December 2019. First Steps Staffing aims to employ those who struggle most to break their own cycles of poverty, giving preference to those who have recently experienced homelessness, military veterans, and individuals who have been previously incarcerated.

Art + Music

Beginning in the summer of 2020, Philly House began partnering with the Wilma Theater Portable Studio. Bringing guests and teaching artists from the Wilma together, the Portable Studio engages guests in storytelling, poetry, songwriting and tangible art projects by giving voice to those in the margins.

The Curtis Institute for Music educates and trains exceptionally gifted young musicians to engage a local and global community through the highest level of artistry. In 2018, Curtis began providing interactive performances at Philly House. Performances include a discussion with our guests engaging them in expressing how particular pieces of music make them feel, musical history and some musical theory.

 

Spiritual Recovery Program

Philly House has partnered with Helping Up Mission in Baltimore to pilot its highly successful Spiritual Recovery Program in Philadelphia. Currently today, we transport any and all men who are looking for recovery programs down to be enrolled in this program in Baltimore. This partnership paves the way for us to walk alongside these men while they advance in their program. Upon graduation, in consultation with clinicians and staff at Helping Up Mission, we coordinate a successful re-entry to Philadelphia if so chosen. 

The Spiritual Recovery Program integrates the latest scientific understanding of addiction treatment with intense spiritual development. For one full year, participants live here at Philly House in a 12-Step therapeutic community. They’ll be immersed in a culture of healing and wellness that meets their physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs through four timed phases: Seeds of Hope, Alpha, Omega and Life Prep.  Full clinical counseling and therapy is provided to each participant by a third-party behavioral and mental health partner at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

 
 

Spiritual Recovery Program Phases

 
  • Counseling – Support Groups – Spiritual Training – Work Therapy – Contact “Blackout”

    During this initial stage, participants receive professional clinical counseling, attend support and accountability meetings like Alcoholics Anonymous, and begin a spiritual 101 through Bible studies, chapel, and discipleship.

    Each person also receives a Work Therapy assignment, which will account for nearly 40 hours a week of their time. By putting our guests in charge of major portions of daily life at Philly House, they gain an ownership stake in their own recoveries. This responsibility also develops self-respect, job skills, and work ethic — critical needs for life after Philly House.

    Finally, the Seeds of Hope phase requires individuals to endure a blackout period eliminating almost all contact with the outside world (excepting family after two weeks). This helps break ties with unhealthy influences (people, places, and things), and allows a person to clear their bodies and minds of chemicals.

  • Personal & Spiritual Growth – Outside Meetings – Healthy Living – Program Individualization – End of “Blackout”

    After successfully completing Seeds of Hope, men continue their personal growth through counseling, spiritual training, and work therapy. New areas of development include life skills and the habits of healthy, chemical-free living. They’ll have the opportunity to participate in life-enrichment activities like the Wilma Portable Studio, field trips to Philly landmarks, and receive customized treatment based on their own particular history or needs (like anger management, coping with childhood sexual abuse, etc.).

    Additionally, participants resume measured contact with the outside world. They can attend church and support groups away from Philly House, have coffee with a sponsor, and communicate more frequently with family members.

  • Personal Growth – Education – Career – Fellowship – Relapse Prevention

    During this third stage, program participants delve deeper into scripture in classes, home groups, Bible studies, and churches, gaining new insight into God’s plan for their lives. They’ll continue meeting with professional counselors, learning how to mature through daily challenges and imperfect relationships.

    Our guests will also have the opportunity to pursue new training and employment through trade schools. Those who did not complete high school can earn GEDs.

    Finally, as the first six months of recovery come to a close, a heavy emphasis is placed on relapse prevention.

  • The final stage of the Spiritual Recovery Program lays the foundation for a return to society. By this time, women and men have been successfully completing Work Therapy on our campus for six months; they’re ready to pursue opportunities with external employers.

    To ensure they’re equipped to juggle the many demands of independent living, our guests will continue participating in spiritual development and counseling when they aren’t working. Some of them require medical or dental care, and this is usually the time non-emergency health issues are addressed, thanks in no small measure to many generous community partners.

    Finally, we help each person prepare for graduation by ensuring they’re plugged in with outside accountability: sponsors, recovery support groups, a home church, etc., are all critical to their lasting success.

 
 
 

Next Level Transitional housing Program

The Next Level Program is a twelve-month transitional housing program available to emergency shelter guests that are seeking stability, spiritual development and long-term success.  

The goal of the program is to equip homeless men with the practical and spiritual life skills they need to be self-sufficient individuals and positive contributors to society. Men in the Next Level Program maintain up to a one-year residency at Philly House in “dorm style residents” on the 4th floor.  

 
 

What We Do

Our guests come for shelter and food, and also find a holistic, empowering refuge from the streets through deep, intentional care.

 
 

Providing Unconditional
Refuge and Hope

 

Help us provide hope to the homeless, hungry and hurting of Philadelphia.

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