PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation and the City of Philadelphia are celebrating a successful initial rollout of their new housing assistance program, PHLHousing Plus.
PHLHousing Plus is the city's first-ever guaranteed income pilot program, several years in the making. It was born out of a greater need for low income residents, as many existing housing assistance programs in the city have long waiting lists.
300 qualifying households selected at random from PHA Housing Choice Voucher and public housing waitlists are provided with monthly direct cash payments loaded onto prepaid debit cards. To be eligible, selected families can't earn more than 50% of area median income and must have a child 15 years old or younger.
According to Rachel Mulbry, PHDC’s housing programs manager, the average monthly payment differs from household to household. She says it’s calculated to close the gap between what a household can afford to pay for housing and actual housing costs.
“The average is around $890 a month. We have households who are receiving as little as $150 a month and households who are receiving upwards of $1,500 a month,” Mulbry explained.
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Anthony Walker is one of the participants of the program. The single father of two boys says the extra $570 a month for 30 months is a huge help.
“That's a big step. That's a big help. Some people don't have that at all, so I look at it as a blessing,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mulbry says, data from the 30-month pilot will be gathered and studied by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania.
“It'll also be something that informs PHDC housing programs,” she said. “We'll be in touch with mayoral administrations, as well as our sister agencies in the city, to see what we should be doing locally.”