Every school year, TU-AMA selects one non-profit or local organization in Philadelphia that positively impacts its surrounding community, and that we believe aligns with our organization values. We partner with them through year-long fundraising and volunteering, or wherever else our help is desired. We refer to this partnership as our Charity of Choice. Our past Charity of Choice selections have included Liberty Resources, West Kensington Ministry, Grace Cafe, and the Young Artist Program.
This year, we have chosen to partner with Philly House as our Charity of Choice. Philly House is the city’s only provider of indoor three meals every day - 365 days a year. They serve over 10,000 meals each month to anyone who walks through their doors. Philly House also serves as the city’s largest and longest-running male homeless shelter, although meals are available to anyone regardless of gender or any other factors. Philly House offers overnight emergency shelter for men, allowing guests to stay for 30 days at a time. In 2023 Philly House sheltered 30% of Philadelphia’s single men - representing 1,753 unique individuals.
Philly House offers a variety of services to the guests that they serve including:
Philly House’s Spiritual Care Services: This includes Bible studies, prayer groups, morning devotions, church, and one-on-one meetings.
Philly House’s Behavior Health Services: This includes peer-to-peer support groups and one-on-one care. Weekly field trips to local museums, parks, and entertainment facilities foster healthy connections to the community.
Philly House’s Physical Health Services: Since 1997, Philly House has partnered with the JeffHOPE Clinic to provide weekly full-service medical services. Beginning in 2012, Philly House partnered with Best Foot Forward Philly to provide a bi-weekly foot clinic for guests.
Philly House’s Legal Services: For over a decade, The Homeless Advocacy Project (HAP) has provided monthly civil legal clinics at Philly House including: accessing benefits like SSI and SNAP; obtaining Veterans benefits, health care, and discharge upgrades; enforcing family law rights; securing shelter and other supportive services; and replacing or correcting identity documents.
Philly House’s Job Placement Services: Since December 2019, Philly House has collaborated with First Step Staffing to employ those who struggle most to break their own cycles of poverty, those who have recently experienced homelessness, military veterans, and individuals who have been previously incarcerated.
Philly House’s Art & Music Services: In the summer of 2020, Philly House began partnering with the Wilma Theater Portable Studio engaging guests in activities such as storytelling, poetry, songwriting and tangible art projects. Philly House also has a partnership with The Curtis Institute for Music. Since 2018, The Curtis Institute has provided Philly House with interactive performances, such as discussions with their guests, engaging them in expressing how particular pieces of music make them feel, musical history, and musical theory.
We are excited to partner with Philly House this school year. We plan on participating in meal services throughout the year. Our fundraising focus for the fall semester is Philly House’s Prepare-a-Plate fundraiser. The Prepare-a-Plate fundraiser occurs every Thanksgiving, where Philly House serves anyone in need of a hot, nutritious, meal consisting of all the traditional dishes...including pie! They believe that everyone deserves to have a restful, joyful, holiday experience and extend this belief into the hard work they put into making that happen for the hungry, homeless, and hurting in our community. They plan a celebration to maximize their dining room for the service by including overflow seating in a heated lounge outside featuring a parade and football game with snacks. In the Spring, we plan to sponsor a birthday celebration for their guests. Each month they hold one big party for all guests with birthdays including cake, decorations, and volunteering to serve that lunch. It's an amazing opportunity to love and walk alongside them and celebrate a day that otherwise may be ignored.
We are beyond excited for the impact TU-AMA and Philly House can have with this partnership! We invite all of our members to get involved with as many projects as they can, to give back some of the resources that TU-AMA gives all of us!
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