[NEWS] Christina Fidanza Gains Seat on Continuum of Care Board

Congratulations to our newly appointed Senior Vice President of Supportive Housing Operations, Christina Fidanza, for joining Philadelphia’s Continuum of Care (CoC) board.

Christina says the board includes individuals from all walks of life. “I am a service provider representative on the board. The board is made up of service providers, city agencies, community members, and people with lived experience.” They all share a common goal of working toward understanding solutions, policies, and the needs of the community for solving homelessness. 

“Our role is basically to help guide the decision making when it comes to providing services for homeless individuals and housing services in the city,” emphasizes Christina.

The board is made possible through the federal CoC program, which helps fund nonprofits and local governments that aim to end homelessness. In Philadelphia, the CoC board collaborates for more efficient ways to provide street outreach, engagement and assessments, plans for shelters and housing, and develop strategies to prevent others from facing homelessness.

New member seats depend on who’s currently serving and which roles are vacant. There are 21 seats and elections only take place if there’s an opening. Christina explains their most recent election was an opportunity she felt Project HOME should strive to fulfill. “We went through an interview process that they recorded, and then they send out all the interviews with the links for people to vote on the members,” says Christina. “It's done by votes, so Project HOME showed up and showed up strong. So, that was impressive.”

Addressing the root causes of homelessness is complex and solutions can look different for each individual’s journey. As time progresses, methods change, technology develops, and the community's needs can shift. This is why Christina believes it’s imperative to be part of these discussions and serve Philadelphians in ways that promote innovation. “Being at Project HOME for over 10 years now and working with OHS [Office of Supportive Housing] regularly around our homeless and housing services and understanding the CoC, I see areas of improvement like systems, strategies, and growth.”

Being a CoC board member allows Christina to be a voice from the Project HOME community and both create and absorb new ideas for the ways we aim to end and prevent chronic street homelessness. “Many of our pain points are shared, and having strength in numbers helps ensure our voices are heard. It’s important to bring those discussions back and collaborate with other service providers to address these concerns as well.”

Christina will claim her new seat on the board in March 2025. She’s thrilled to collaborate with fellow board members and take on new experiences she’ll bring back to Project HOME. Christina adds, “I'm looking forward to seeing how we come together to re-envision how homeless and housing services are handled in the city. I think there's a lot of areas that we've seen from an operational, boots-on-the-ground perspective, where our input would be helpful for people to know and understand.” 

The Project HOME community applauds Christina’s leadership and thirst for new ventures that support our vision of ending homelessness for every Philadelphian.