City’s Division of Housing and Community Development Awarded More than $200K from the William Penn Foundation

Grant will further outreach for housing programs; Create more opportunities for community input

DECEMBER 2, 2024-PHILADELPHIA – The City of Philadelphia’s Division of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), in partnership with the Philadelphia City Fund, today announced it was awarded a grant from the William Penn Foundation (WPF) to support its work to improve systems and processes for equitable, collaborative community engagement around housing policies and programs. DHCD is part of the City’s Department of Planning and Development (DPD).

The grant, totaling $212,800, will strengthen the capacity of DHCD’s Neighborhood Advisory Committees (NACs) to connect residents with housing assistance programs, and create a community advisory group as a pathway for residents to advise DHCD on its housing policy and programs. These improvements will increase access to housing services for renters and homeowners across Philadelphia and create more opportunities for DHCD to understand and address community priorities.

“This critical funding increases our ability to make sure even more residents are aware of our housing programs and services”, said Jessie Lawrence, Director, Planning and Development. “Some of the city’s housing and community development programs can be complex and technical. That is a barrier that we want to try to remove for residents. This grant will help not only promote our programs but provide a venue for residents to give their personal perspectives on initiatives that touch one of the most important parts of their lives—their housing. DHCD is grateful to the William Penn Foundation for their support of this work, and excited to begin implementation in collaboration with the City Fund, partner organizations, and residents.”

“We are supporting a range of projects to help Philadelphians have confidence that their local government is responsive and accountable to its constituents,” said Jessica Richards, Program Director, William Penn Foundation’s Democracy and Civic Initiatives Program. “We are pleased to support DHCD’s efforts to create new connections and improved services for the residents it serves.”

DHCD manages an annual budget of over $300 million and works with over 90 subrecipients to deliver affordable housing resources to low-and moderate-income Philadelphia residents.

For more information on DHCD, please visit phila.gov/dhcd.