Homelessness Prevention Assistance
Participants should call the Homelessness Prevention Hotline at 215-686-7177 for information or click here for additional information. Due to high call volume, OHS staff will return calls within 72 hours.
Emergency Housing
Short-term accommodation for individuals and families to resolve an immediate housing crisis. Level of need is assessed and case management assistance provided to obtain appropriate care. Centralized Intake for City-Funded Shelters:
Monday – Friday 7am – 5 pm
- Appletree Family Center,1430 Cherry Street
- Roosevelt Darby Center, 804 N. Broad Street
Daily, After 5PM Daily AND Weekends and Holidays, 24 hours
Bed for the night, first-come, first-served
- Families: Salvation Army Red Shield, 715 N. Broad St.
- Single Women: House of Passage, 49th & Haverford Ave.
- Single Men: Mike Hinson Resource Center (formerly after hours at Station House), 1701 W. Lehigh Ave. (Opens after 3pm)
- Sunday Breakfast: 302 N. 13th St.
Youth/Young Adult Access Points
In addition to the intake centers listed above, if you are between 18 and 24 years old and experiencing homelessness in Philadelphia County, you can also go to a youth access point to be evaluated for services through the homeless assistance system. You can visit one of these agencies below during the listed drop-in hours to be evaluated for services.
Valley Youth House
1500 Sansom St., 3rd Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Hours:
Monday- 10am-1pm
Wednesday- 2pm-4pm
Thursday- 1pm-5pm
Friday- 9am-12pm
*Note: If you are under 18 and are experiencing homelessness, you can reach out to one of the following Runaway and Homeless Youth providers for assistance:
Youth Emergency Services (emergency shelter for youth ages 17 and under):
215-787-0633 OR 1-800-371-SAFE
Forget Me Knot Youth Services (emergency shelter for youth ages 17 and under):
215-223-3621
Pathways PA (emergency shelter for female youth ages 17 and under):
215-397-4260
Valley Youth House Synergy Project outreach team (24/7 outreach hotline):
1-888-HOUSE-15
Emergency Food Distribution Program
State food distribution to shelters and Philadelphia soup kitchens, food cupboards and pantries.
Transitional Housing
Transitional Housing helps households move from Emergency Housing toward self-sufficiency by providing supported semi-independent living for a period of 12-24 months. Homeless Services funds and collaborates with City departments and nonprofit organizations on the operation of transitional housing for individual and families.
Permanent Supportive Housing Clearinghouse
The Permanent Supportive Housing Clearinghouse provides housing opportunities to homeless individuals who currently reside in shelter, behavioral health, transition and recovery housing facilities. The Clearinghouse provides a single point of housing access for households in the Health and Human Services priority populations who have both a services and housing need. It also provides permanent housing options for people with disabilities.
Rapid Re-Housing
The Rapid Re-housing program is an intervention designed to assist households quickly exit homelessness, return to housing in the community of their choice and not become homeless in the near term. The goals of the Rapid Re-housing program are to reduce the time households are homeless, move households quickly into permanent housing and to reduce the number of households returning to homelessness once their assistance ends.
Riverview Home
A personal care boarding home for low-income consumers with a physical or mental disability who require assistance with the activities of daily living. It provides comprehensive personal care while ensuring the highest possible level of independence for all residents in a home-like environment that is safe and comfortable with staff that is caring and engaged.
Housing Inspection
For providers: Inspection of private market rental housing to assure safety and affordability prior to occupancy by Homeless Services-referred consumers.
Continuum of Care
The Philadelphia Continuum of Care (CoC) is an inter-agency planning body responsible for coordinating and implementing a community-based response to homelessness in the City of Philadelphia. Homeless Services is the Collaborative Applicant to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for CoC program funding that supports more than 2,500 units of safe haven, permanent and transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness.
Homeless Coordinated Entry and Assessment-Based Housing Referral System (CEA-BHRS)
This system will ensure individuals and families at-risk or experiencing homelessness have access to a streamlined and standardized process that links them to appropriate resources to end their housing crisis. Philadelphia’s (CEA-BHRS) will be launched in 2017.
Shared Public Spaces
Homeless Services is now developing a holistic, transparent, representative infrastructure for action on homelessness, panhandling and outdoor meal service to make our Shared Public Spaces safe and secure for all.
Winter Initiative
Also we are working now to ensure that no one dies from exposure in below freezing weather. Beginning December 1 we will begin to phase in 450 winter beds, 50 more than last year. We will adopt the respite model pioneered during the Democratic National Convention to focus on housing plans and case management.
Targeting Youth Homelessness
The Office of Homeless Services is committed to preventing and ending youth and young adult homelessness through coordinated, cross-system initiatives. The goal is to expand the resources for homeless youth in a targeted way by providing interventions to prevent, shorten, and/or end the experience of homelessness. In 2016, the City awarded funds to provide additional services for youth ages 18-24 experiencing homelessness. These services include expanded emergency housing, rapid rehousing, and an array of supportive services. Homeless Services also strives to elevate the voices of young adults with lived experience of homelessness through the Young Adult Leadership Committee (YALC) advisory board.