PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, now halfway through her first term, shows no signs of slowing down her efforts to solve some of the city’s most intractable problems.
“I’m a doer, by nature, I’m a fixer,” she said in a year-end interview with KYW Newsradio. “My job is to bring a sense of hope and pride and dignity back to the people and to make them believe in our city and that this local government can work again for them.”
In her first year, she set her sights on restoring order to Kensington. In 2025, she set in motion a plan to build, save, or restore 30,000 units of affordable housing. For 2026, with the built-in pressure of being a major site for that nation’s semiquincentennial celebration and hosting a myriad of special events, she has taken on her boldest mission yet—to end street homelessness.
“My senior leadership, my subject matter experts in the area of homeless services, have said, ‘Mayor, we can end street homelessness in Philadelphia.’ I believe them,” she said.
The mayor tied this belief in finding solutions to hard problems to her own rise from a hardscrabble childhood to the mayor’s office, which she says built in her a need to “prove proficiency.”
As evidence, she points to the successes of her first two years: a sharp reduction in violent crime, noticeably cleaner streets, and the healthiest city budget in decades, among other things. She can’t claim victory on the Kensington project, but there is visible progress, and she’s particularly proud of the Riverview Wellness Center, which she converted to recovery housing in one year. She sees a similar model being able to create 1,000 new beds in one month to bring street homeless people into shelter.
“Is it tough to be able to say to the team, I want a thousand units by January 31st? Absolutely. Do I think they’re going to rise to the occasion and meet the moment? 1,001%,” she said.
She has run into headwinds from city council over her affordable housing plan, which she calls HOME for Housing Opportunities Made Easy. Council passed her budget, but made changes not to her liking by shifting most of the spending on home repair programs and new housing to the lowest-income residents. She vows to continue to fight for her vision to provide home repair money for people with moderate incomes, though she declines to call it a fight. She says she is trying to “get to yes” and describes her mission as saving the city’s rowhome neighborhoods, which comprise 70% of the city’s housing but are aging fast, with 75% of the homes more than 50 years old.
She acknowledges 2026 looks to be an exhausting year and says she will have to take more opportunities to recharge her batteries, but she’s looking forward to it.
“I’m feeling really good about 2026,” she said.
To hear more of what the mayor said, please listen to the full interview, included on this page.