October 28-November 3, 2004

cityspace

Extreme 90-Home Makeover

by Jonas Raab

City Council President Anna C. Verna wanted to announce a new, groundbreaking program that combines new housing with employment and educational opportunities herself. But when a case of bronchitis rendered her unavailable, Verna sent her chief of staff, Kathleen Murray, to 58th Street to launch the antiblight Southwest Philadelphia Renewal Initiative locals hope will spur a long-needed turnaround.

Through the combined efforts of the Mercer Fund of the Board of Directors of City Trusts, PresbyHomes & Services and the Philadelphia Housing Development Corp., 90 dilapidated homes will be acquired and rebuilt during the next three years. From there, they'll be renovated into affordable housing in the shadows of PresbyHome's campus, a senior-services provider currently surrounded by a barbed-wire fence.

The initiative is not simply creating low-cost housing, said Richard Burcik, general manager of the Girard Estate and chief investment officer for the Mercer Fund. It is the only effort anywhere in the country that combines housing, education and employment to benefit low-income families as well as their overall community, Burcik says.

It focuses on the area around PresbyHomes, in part, because that company is a major neighborhood employer. And through the Board of Directors of City Trusts, qualified children of the new residents will be eligible for scholarships to Girard College. These scholarships include tuition, room and board, clothing, health care and academic services.

"Typically, the kinds of kids who attend Girard College wouldn't have a chance in our society if they didn't get a leg up," said Burcik. "Many of the children that will come into these homes will be eligible."

The vacant properties will be completely gutted and will receive new windows, interiors, fresh paint and new brick facades as necessary. The units will cost anywhere from $40,000 to $60,000.

"It is bringing together nonprofit entities and public entities, working on neighborhood transformation," Murray said at last Friday's launch, which was held in front of 10 of the soon-to-be-redone homes. By next spring, she added, 27 properties will be complete.

Judging by the immediate reaction last week, the community appears to support the effort.

"Are they redoing all these homes?" said a passerby, pointing to the construction already underway on 58th between Greenway and Woodland avenues. "That's great."