[NEWS] For second year, outreach teams are connecting with Philly’s homeless

The Center City District has begun its second year of reaching out to people who are homeless on the sidewalks of central Philadelphia, with twice the number of outreach workers.

Last year, the nonprofit worked in conjunction with Project HOME, the Philadelphia Police Department, and the Department of Behavioral Health to organize an effort to engage with homeless people in Center City.

“There were miracles, there were heartaches,” said Sister Mary Scullion, executive director of Project HOME. “Overall, this was a good program.”

The Center City District funded and launched the outreach program. During a 2018 pilot effort that ran from April 23 through Nov. 16, outreach workers encouraged 134 people to come off the street and enter social service, mental health, and housing programs.