Read descriptions of these timely, early-stage projects that are aiming to shift practice in the social sector.
Healthy Rowhouse Project, a collaborative hosted by the Center for Architecture, aims to tackle the barriers preventing Philadelphia from repairing rowhouses at scale in order to improve the health of residents and preserve critical affordable housing. They aim to improve 5,000 houses per year—thousands more homes than any other U.S. city has been able to repair—at an average cost of $10,000 per home. Building from their preliminary research and with the support of their multi-disciplinary coalition, in the next two years Healthy Rowhouse Project will develop a new home repair infrastructure, including an organized network of service delivery partners, new program designs and creative financing for property owners and investors. This grant was originally made to the Center for Architecture, the initial fiscal sponsor of Healthy Rowhouse Project, but was transferred to Clarifi, Inc. when the project relocated.
Inglis has designed a new service delivery model called LIFE that will enable their clients with significant disabilities to live more independently in a community setting, rather than in an institutional environment. The LIFE center will be in the new complex and will offer enhanced medical services, adapted computing, education and other opportunities for community engagement. To implement the LIFE program and support the transition of residents from Inglis and other nursing homes into a newly constructed community facility, Inglis plans to employ Pay for Success (PFS) financing, an emerging social finance tool. The grant will support Inglis’ efforts to hire experienced consultants to oversee the PFS initiative’s implementation, including deal structuring and evaluation.
Bethesda Project is developing a new model of care for chronically homeless individuals, Bethesda Beacon. Their goal is to make available within one building a seamless process for people to transition from living on the streets, to engaging in social services, to receiving and recovering from medical care, to living in permanent housing. The “step-up” model includes a welcoming café, medical respite care for 30 people and 50 units of permanent housing—all under one roof. The Barra grant will support Bethesda Project’s first phase of planning, which includes examination of the design’s feasibility and financial sustainability.