Developing Philadelphia

Philadelphia’s Project H.O.M.E. helps homeless and low-income residents October 9, 2008

Note: This profile was written as as assignment for my Public Affairs Reporting class at Temple University.

Will O’Brien spends his days helping homeless people find a voice so they can better their lives. His work at Project H.O.M.E. tries to address the need for housing opportunities, medical care and education (H.O.M.E.) facing both the homeless and low income people living in Philadelphia.

Gathering political positions.

O’Brien said Project H.O.M.E. reaches out to city officials and candidates with questionnaires outlining their stances on issues like housing, jobs and employment and social services for the homelessness. After the questionnaires are completed O’Brien said Project H.O.M.E. then prints nonpartisan voters’ guides for low income or homeless voters as well as anyone interested in the policies.

Teaching the homeless their rights

Educating homeless people on their rights as voters is another part of Project H.O.M.E.’s advocacy goals. O’Brien said some homeless people do not know they are eligible to vote and the process of voting.
“Some need to know what a voting machine looks like and how it works,” he said. O’Brien’s goal is to connect and mobilize the low-income and homeless voting bloc, which he said creates a powerbase to change public policy.
This bloc is not cohesive. O’Brien said a key aspect of Project H.O.M.E.’s agenda is registering homeless and low income voters. Within the last 10 years, more than 10,000 people have been registered. Many of those voters have gone to toe polls, some via Project H.O.M.E.’s mobilization efforts like shuttles from shelters to polling stations.
In the 2007 mayoral election Project H.O.M.E. brought candidates to a forum of about 600 low income people so they could address a different voting community. After the forum O’Brien said there was a rally for candidates and more than 200 homeless. The rally showed the homeless they had support while they supported local politics.
O’Brien said this support system opened a dialogue with Mayor Nutter’s administration. The dialogue aimed to create better policy initiatives to address homelessness and its causes.

Some of the proposals came from Project H.O.M.E. and national nonprofit groups addressing homelessness including National Alliance to End Homelessness, the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Proposals for fighting poverty

These proposals aim to provide services for the homeless like an inclusive housing bill. Other initiatives working with the homeless from the Nutter administration focus on street homelessness in center city, creating safe havens and shelters as well as providing more entry level housing so people can move off the streets.

Housing initiatives and meetings with candidates are only one part of O’Brien’s work with Project H.O.M.E. The week of Sept. 22 is National Homeless Voter Registration Week. A rally and march is planned to move down Broad St. toward center city on Monday, Sept. 22.

Project H.O.M.E. will also host a presidential debate watch Friday, Sept. 26 at 9 p.m. The debate is focused on domestic issues and O’Brien would like to see if Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain address homelessness and poverty, as well as offering realistic solutions.

O’Brien said Project H.O.M.E.’s five fundamentals show major policy goals of the nonprofit organization. Project H.O.M.E. believes  the McKinney-Vento programs should be reauthorized.

These programs work within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and provide $1.5 billion per year for shelters, services and supportive housing for currently homeless citizens. While these programs have curbed the symptoms of homelessness, O’Brien and Project H.O.M.E. said homelessness is still an emergency.

Project H.O.M.E.’s stated goals also include provisions to fix the causes of homelessness. To do that the  organization proposed and continues to propose initiatives and policies to provide health care, education and other social services to everyone in need Project H.O.M.E.’s reasoning for these proposals ties into the causes and exacerbation of homelessness – poverty and inadequate education.

Changing the education and health care would allow people to move off the streets and out of the shelters so they can get back into society.

Another of Project H.O.M.E.’s goals, is proposing a creation of a living wage. They believe people should be allowed to care for themselves, and not having enough income can limit that care. Moreover Project H.O.M.E. outlined examples of homeless people who work but do not receive enough money from wages to move out of the streets.

These examples of lower wages and earnings for homeless people is a form of discrimination, according to Project H.O.M.E. They believe public systems should educate the homeless and the surrounding community about the services and civil rights the homeless are entitled to – the homeless enjoy equal protection under the law.

O’Brien said he is currently focused on the voter registration and education effort, which encompasses the fundamental principles Project H.O.M.E. states are the most important facing homeless and low income people in Philadelphia.

Policy discussions, voters’ guides, rallies and debate watches are some of the ways he and Project H.O.M.E. volunteer to help people in need.