Honickman Foundation: Projects for Social Change

Women's Emergency Respite Center

Starting January 2010, Project H.O.M.E. once again has the opportunity to open it's doors to the Women's Emergency Respite Center for the second year. The Women's Emergency Respite Center serves a particularly vulnerable population: women with a long history of street homelessness, many of whom are incompatible or resistant to city-run shelter services. We will be opening the doors to the Respite starting January 11th, 2010, and will operate through April.

At the Respite we provided shelter, clothing, toiletries, showers, laundry facilities, and meals. In addition to working to engage guests each night about services and opportunities available, the Respite provided extended services during the week.

With the help of our Resource Coordinator, we are able to make dozens of referrals around the guests' housing, legal, medical, psychiatric, and financial needs. The Resource Coordinator also accompanies guests on appointments and advocated for guests with service providers. Each evening the Respite guests are picked up by Project H.O.M.E.'s Outreach teams and are welcomed by a community of volunteers and staff. Thanks largely to last year's incredible generosity of volunteers, we were able to serve healthy, delicious, often home-cooked dinners each night and a warm breakfast to start each day.

Volunteer Information

Volunteers are essential to all of our services and programs and Project H.O.M.E. This winter at the Women's Emergency Respite Center we are hoping to coordinate three to six volunteers per night to serve dinner from 6:30 until approximately 8:30.

We apologize, but due to safety concerns, we cannot accept volunteers under the age of 16.

Volunteers may provide the meal in addition to serving it, or they can prepare the meal and drop it off at 1515 Fairmount Avenue. Typical dinners will consist of soup, sandwiches, tea, hot chocolate and coffee.

However, culinary creativity is welcome as long as you are willing to provide the ingredients, especially if the end result is a hot meal! Individual, group, one-time and ongoing volunteers are all welcome to assist with this opportunity.

In addition, if any volunteers have an evening activity that they would like to facilitate (arts and crafts, etc), creative volunteer opportunities are available.

Also, one volunteer is needed each Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday through the end of April to assist with outreach efforts while the respite is in operation. A once-per-week commitment from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m., starting January 11, 2010 until around the middle of April, is preferred.

Contact Jennifer McAleese at jenmcaleese@projecthome.org if you are interested in volunteering.

Please use the subject line "Respite" if you are sending an email request.

Donation Wish List

Below is our wish list for donated items to assist with our Women's Emergency Respite Center:

Food and toiletries

Dinners
Bread-rolls, breakfast items like bagels, white and brown loaves
Frozen Casseroles
Milk
Bananas
Breakfast foods like oatmeal, cereals, etc
Hearty foods: e.g. soups, cans of tuna, hot dogs, crackers, cookies, and baked beans
Butter and margarine
Oatmeal, dry cereal, bread
Peanut butter, jelly, honey
Coffee, tea, sugar, hot chocolate
Non-perishable snacks (granola bars, crackers, etc.)
Cough drops
Soup (canned or dried)
Drinks (milk, soda, juice, juice mix)
Soap
Lotion
Shampoo and Conditioner
Feminine hygiene products

Clothing/Linens

Blankets and towels (preferably new, but gently used is OK)
Pillows-plastic covered and non
New socks
Women's underwear of ALL sizes
Scrubs or PJ's
Flip flops for shower
Towels
Sweatpants and shirts
Hats, gloves, scarves

Other needed items

Hand sanitizer
Plastic cups, utensils, bowls
SEPTA tokens
Large trash bags
Latex gloves
Toilet paper
Paper towels
Band Aids
Laundry Detergent
Dish Detergent
Lousing Medication
Cleaning Supplies-bleach, sponges, buckets, disinfectants, wet mops
Disposable dinnerware
Serving utensils
Tin foil and plastic wrap
Games-board games, electronic etc.
Power strips/surge protectors
DVD/VCR player
Television
Small gift certificates to places like Wawa
Small combination safe
White board with markers
Videos and DVD's
Pitchers

To donate an item, please contact Lei Zhao at 215-232-7272, ext. 3057 or leizhao@projecthome.org.

TIME Magazine Names Sister Mary Scullion to 100 Most Influential

Sister Mary Cullion, co-founder and Executive Director of Project H.O.M.E., was selected by Time Magazine as one of the "World's 100 Most Influential People in 2009."

Sister Mary Scullion, co-founder and Executive Director of Project H.O.M.E. was selected by Time Magazine as one of the "World's 100 Most Influential People in 2009." A member of the Sisters of Mercy religious order, Sister Mary was cited in the category for "Heroes and Icons" for her leadership in helping to reduce homelessness in Philadelphia.

Project H.O.M.E. was started twenty years ago when Sister Mary and co-founder Joan McConnon had a chance meeting on a subway platform. Today, Philadelphia has one of the lowest rates of persons living on the streets among the nation's largest cities; about 600 in Philadelphia, compared to 2,000 in New York City and 40,000 in Los Angeles. According to Sister Mary, "this is not a time to retrench, but to move forward and make more progress and finish the job of truly ending homelessness."

Nan Roman, president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness described Sister Mary as a "formidable leader" and a "driving force in reducing homelessness in Philadelphia … an example for communities all over the country. Her blend of deep compassion and hard-headed practicality make her an invaluable ally and teacher." Sister Mary was nominated for this honor by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the New York Times bestseller Eat, Pray, Love. Read More about the TIME Magazine article.

Peak Johnson, a member of the Harold A. Honickman Entrepreneurial Program, greeting visitors to the grand opening ceremony of the H.O.M.E. Page Café at the Free Library of Philadelphia

H.O.M.E. Page Café at the Free Library of Philadelphia

On Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 the H.O.M.E. Page Café, a wireless internet café, held its grand opening celebration. Located in the lobby of the Free Library of Philadelphia's Central Branch on 1901 Vine Street, The H.O.M.E. Page Café is an innovative collaboration that provides employment for formerly homeless individuals and teen students in Project H.O.M.E.'s Harold A. Honickman Entrepreneurial Program. Starbucks is providing the coffee for the Café, Project H.O.M.E.'s Back Home Café and Catering is offering lunch food, and Metropolitan Bakery is supplying baked goods and training employees. The overall mission of the new wireless internet cafe is to provide formerly homeless individuals and teenagers in the Harold A. Honickman Entrepreneurial Program the opportunity to gain useful job skills while transitioning into the workforce.

Café hours are Monday through Saturday, 8:30am-5:00pm and Sunday 1:00-5:00pm.

Night Commuters of Northern Uganda

THF supports the work of photographer, Stephen Shames, whose foundation educates the night commuters as well as AIDS orphans, street kids, working children, and other vulnerable youngsters. He creates winning photo essays on social issues (see images below), primarily the problems that face children of poverty and neglect. In 1995, a non-profit organization that helps highly motivated children graduate from high school, and in some cases, college. The foundation pays for the student's school fees, purchases the books, pens, and paper needed, in addition to making sure the children have the food and emotional support that is critical to their success.

Sleep

Drinks Rain Water