PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia has received a $4.13 million grant going to its Home Repair Program helping strengthen houses and neighborhoods throughout the city.
A study from the University of Pennsylvania shows not only does repairing a home help the owner, but it reduces crime on a block by 23 percent. Now thanks to the grant from the William Penn Foundation, Habitat Philadelphia will be able to help drive those numbers down even further.
CEO Corinne O’Connell says this comes at a time when the city really needs it.
“That investment will empower Habitat to double our impact over the next three years so that when we finish in fiscal 2026, we’re at 200 homes finished a year,” she said.
O’Connell adds the money will also allow them to maintain that pace into the future, a far cry from where the program started in 2011.
“We did 20 homes,” she said. “It might have even been 10 that first year and it was an investment of about $3,500.”
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The grant is announced as former President Jimmy Carter decided to receive hospice care. He was one of the organization's biggest names and volunteers who helped boost Habitat for Humanity into national prominence.
Carter and his wife Rosalynn visited Philadelphia in 1988 to work on a project with Habitat for Humanity. O’Connell says though the former president is spending his final days at home, his work is still going strong.
“Out my window I see Wilt Street, I see the houses that they helped build here in Philadelphia that are still owned by Habitat homeowners,” she said.
O’Connell says that President Carter’s message — just like his work — is inspiring them to keep building.
“Continue to ground ourselves, and our name is habitat for humanity, I think president and Mrs. Carter helped elevate the humanness of what we do,” she said.