This program provides high-quality, trauma informed,
patient-centered care for men, women and children experiencing homelessness and those at risk of
homelessness. Health Care for the Homeless provides primary and behavioral health care and comprehensive
social services to meet the complex needs of this vulnerable population.
This is a comprehensive primary health care center for
homeless people at all points along of the
continuum: from the street to shelter to transitional housing to self-sufficiency.
The Mary Howard Health Center is the only nurse-managed
health center specifically for homeless people
that provides health promotion and disease prevention. It is based on the premise that comprehensive,
continuous health care of homeless people is achievable. This level of care is possible because of the
unique "community" developed over the past fifteen years by the Health Care for the Homeless Project and
many other providers working in partnership with homeless people.
Seventy-nine percent of the clients at the Mary Howard
Health Center for the Homeless had successful
follow-up/treatment of abnormal results. This success is possible in part because the Health Care for
the Homeless Project has developed services in partnership with homeless people, advocates, and homeless
service providers.. The result is care as comprehensive as clients are ready to accept. Services are
open to any patient irregardless of ability to pay. Those services include:
This is a transitional, low-income housing program in
West Philadelphia that builds self-sufficiency
among homeless families by developing key independent living skills. The facility provides 50
transitional apartments for homeless families and 40 permanent townhouses for low-income families. The
goal is to enhance the strengths of all the men, women and children served so that the prospect of
homelessness becomes an unlikely future.
Comprehensive services are provided on site including
day care, health services, and intensive case
management. Families are eligible for the program who are formerly homeless, single heads of households,
have no more than two children, may be in recovery for substance abuse and are willing to accept
intensive case management services. Persons affected by HIV are also accepted.
Healthcare services are limited to daily checkups and
focus on those recovering from substance abuse or
patients diagnosed with HIV. Nonetheless, these services are important.
Serenity Court has a program called Homeless Medical Respite that provides post-acute medical care for homeless men and women. Regardless of whether they are on the streets or in an emergency shelter, and especially if they are too ill or frail to recover from a physical illness, surgery or injury they can find help in Serenity Court. These patients have been less likely to be readmitted to a hospital for several months after a stay at this medical respite.
Donate money to the Health Care for the Homeless Program! You can fundraise through a club, start a gofundme page, or even request friends to donate for your birthday. In addition, you can organize a donation drive for the three sites. Be sure to contact them to ask what resources are needed at the time. Contact information for each site is listed below!
Contact information
125 South 9th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
PHONE: (215) 592-4500
FAX: (215) 592-4326
Contact information
Shirley Robinson
Project Director
(215) 473-7451
Contact information
1221 North 19th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19121
OFFICE: (215) 684-3430
CELL: (215) 817-9864