Isaacson announces more than $3.3M in PHARE funding for 16 organizations in 175th District

Rep. Mary Isaacson    June 15, 2021 | 10:14 AM

State Rep. Mary Isaacson announced more than $3.3 million in Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement, or PHARE, funds has been awarded to 16 organizations in the 175th Legislative District.

  • Actionaids, Inc. Funding Reserved, awarded $92,000 PHARE/Realty Transfer Tax to stabilize housing for (15) chronically ill, low-income, minority households affected by COVID-19.
  • Korean Community Development Services Center, awarded $400,000 PHARE/Realty Transfer Tax to renovate building envelopes and critical systems to provide high-quality housing.
  • City of Philadelphia, Office of Homeless Services Funding Reserved, awarded $191,100 PHARE/Realty Transfer Tax to expand access for the Philadelphia Latinx/Hispanic community and building capacity of the Homeless Service System during a one-year collaboration to address the multifaceted issue of homelessness in the Latinx community, including working with a consultant to establish comprehensive strategies for increasing access to services for the Latinx community and spearheading a public/private advisory group of agencies dedicated to serving this population to foster collaboration.
  • Community Design Collaborative, awarded $400,000 PHARE/Realty Transfer Tax to support the construction of 15 innovative affordable tiny house units, developed through the Community Design Collaboratives Missing Middle Housing Competition & Pilot, which will bring together community leaders and citizens with experts and industry leaders in social impact and affordable housing design to deliver a more affordable and more efficient housing solution to serve some of the City of Philadelphia’s most vulnerable citizens.
  • Compass Working Capital, Inc., awarded $150,000 PHARE/Realty Transfer Tax to expand access to a financial coaching and savings program for residents of federally subsidized housing, and pilot a new model for delivering this program remotely to hard-to-reach populations. The FSS program supports families to build savings and work toward their financial goals, such as homeownership, saving for education, or establishing emergency savings.
  • Impact Services Corporation, awarded $350,000 PHARE/Realty Transfer Tax to develop 15 newly available units for homeowners and renters in a community with rapidly changing values. The partners on this project have been working in the Kensington community for 40 years. The Kensington Equitable Housing project will create 10 new for-sale housing units and 5 rental units serving families from 30% to 100% of Area Median Income.
  • PHLRentAssist-Direct Organization: PHDC, awarded $350,000 PHARE/Realty Transfer Tax to provide cash rental assistance to families in need by giving them funds to use as they see fit. Direct cash is an invisible benefit, which may reduce landlord discrimination based on income source and demonstrates trust in low-income families. 600 households will receive a landlord voucher, while 300 recipients will receive a direct-cash benefit.
  • Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, awarded $96,000 PHARE/Realty Transfer Tax to support Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation’s "Chinatown Homelessness Prevention" intervention to meet emergency financial needs for vulnerable individuals and families at risk for homelessness. Services will be rendered in the form of direct rent/mortgage/utility/transportation relief and financial assistance, landlord outreach, and case management. The program will also support expanded, HUD-certified Housing Counseling and Financial Literacy programming which is urgently needed at this time.
  • Philadelphia Energy Authority, awarded $400,000 PHARE/Realty Transfer Tax to offer critical home repairs and a deep energy retrofit, combined with electrification and rooftop solar, designed to preserve a safe, healthy and affordable home for the long term. The 50 homes piloted with this funding will be models of 21st century sustainability, resulting in improved health outcomes and unmatched affordability. Built to Last units have not yet been selected.
  • SeniorLAW Center, awarded $250,000 PHARE/Realty Transfer Tax to provide expanded legal assistance and advocacy, empowering and preventative legal education, community-based programming, and social and supportive services for low-income older tenants of color: The goal: to prevent homelessness and promote safe and healthy homes for older black and brown people, targeting key zip codes in and around North and West Philadelphia which are home to more than one-third of all older renters in our City.
  • Valley Youth House Committee, awarded $55,125 PHARE/Realty Transfer Tax to expand the agency’s Pride Housing program for homeless and unstably housed transition-age young people (ages 18-24) identifying as LGBTQ+ by providing safe transitional housing. The agency currently operates Rapid Re-housing and Host Home programs for LGBTQ+ youth in Philadelphia. The requested funding will enable the program to provide an immediate safe space for these young people while they are waiting to enter one of the longer-term programs.
  • Ceiba, awarded $75,000 PHARE/Realty Transfer Tax to foster sustainable partnerships committed to address housing needs in the Hispanic Community of Philadelphia. The grant will be used to retain a Program Coordinator to help coordinate and manage the activities of the Latino Equitable Development Collective (LEDC), a Ceiba Collective Impact initiative in the Latino community of Eastern North Philadelphia.
  • Urban Affairs Coalition, awarded $200,000 PHARE/Realty Transfer Tax to expand UAC's employer-assisted housing program, Philadelphia Home Buy Now (PHBN). Specifically, funds will be used for a matching grant contribution program that engages Philadelphia-based employers in offering homeownership incentives for low- to moderate-income employees and expanded financial education offerings for these employees to assure they can affordably save for and sustain homeownership. PHBN is managed through UAC's Community and Economic Development (CED).
  • The Urban League of Philadelphia, awarded $200,000 PHARE/Realty Transfer Tax for Urban League of Philadelphia's Housing Counseling Programs, which work with underserved African American and minority Philadelphia residents to secure sustainable housing through first-time homebuying and financial literacy education.
  • Affordable Housing Centers of Pennsylvania, awarded $50,000 PHARE/Realty Transfer Tax to provide comprehensive housing counseling services which include assistance to avoid mortgage foreclosure, rental eviction, and homeownership. Services administered by the program include financial literacy, mediation services to divert the client from foreclosure or eviction, and helping clients become mortgage eligible and access closing cost assistance.
  • The Sunday Breakfast Association of Philadelphia, awarded $100,000 PHARE/Realty Transfer Tax for the  Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission (SBRM), which has been caring for those experiencing hunger, homelessness, and hurting since 1878. It has grown to be Philadelphia's largest men's emergency shelter, and the only provider of three meals a day to anyone in need, seven days a week. PHARE funds will be used to complete capital improvements to SBRM's aging infrastructure to provide 59 transitional housing units that serve as a pathway out of homelessness for men in Philadelphia County.

Money to fund this round of PHARE applications came from two sources: Marcellus Shale Impact Fees and Realty Transfer Taxes. 

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