Community Impact
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Success Story:
Project H.O.M.E.
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Success Stories
ADVANCING THE COMMON GOOD
United Way works to advance the common good by targeting its strategies at those critical passages in life that can present opportunities for individuals and families to dramatically increase their chances for long term success. This approach maximizes United Way’s effectiveness, because it allows us to improve lives and communities not just in the short term, and not just on the surface, but in a lasting and meaningful way.
Community Level Goal
Reinforcing the Social Fabric of our Community
Priority Area
A Strong Safety Net
Project H.O.M.E.
Our Investment:
Every day, nonprofits in our region reach thousands of individuals and families
in need, while building community, purpose and belonging. Project H.O.M.E.
is making a difference in the communities they serve by empowering adults,
children and families to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty. At
the Honickman Learning Center, both adults and youths are given access to technology
and are taught skills that will help them obtain better jobs with sustainable
income. By providing Project H.O.M.E. with additional resources, United Way
helps to increase their effectiveness so they can do even more for the communities
they serve.
Results for Our Community:
Sister Mary Scullion, the founder and Executive Director of Project H.O.M.E. sat down with United Way staff to talk about how United Way is helping Project H.O.M.E. make a difference in the communities they serve.
Q: How is Project H.O.M.E. advancing the common good?
A: Project H.O.M.E. is a community of people from all walks of life who are committed to ending homelessness and poverty in Philadelphia. Homelessness affects all of us. That’s why we like to say, none of us are home, until all of us are home. I truly believe that whenever people reach out to impact the suffering and the violence then that advances the common good for everyone.
Q: How does strengthening the social fabric strengthen the community as a whole?
A: I know it’s a cliché, but we really only are as strong as our weakest link. There is interconnectedness in every community. Whatever effects one of us directly, affects all of us indirectly. The more meaningful opportunities we can offer people to succeed, the stronger we’ll all be. The more learning experiences we give children today, the more architects, doctors, teachers and nurses we have in the future.
Q: How does United Way strengthen the capacity of Project H.O.M.E. so that the organization can achieve its goals?
A: The general operating support that we receive from United Way enables us
to do more than just survive. Because Project H.O.M.E. can count on receiving
that money for the next few years, we can add in new programs and help more
people. However, even more important than the money is United Way’s leadership.
They have identified the critical areas of education, income and health as
their focus and that helps us to know that those are areas we should focus
on as well.
Q: What do you believe has been Project H.O.M.E.’s greatest achievement?
A: It’s a tough question because Project H.O.M.E. does so much in so many different areas. What some people don’t know is that the “H” stands for “housing”, the “O” is for “opportunities for employment”, the “M” is for “medical care” and the “E” is for “education”. Each one of those is indispensable, and as you can guess, we have a lot going on. However, what I am most proud of is how we’ve been able to leverage the strength and will of the people who live in the communities we serve. Project H.O.M.E. with the help of United Way offers programs and services that give people the means to get better, but without their determination to move their lives forward none of this would be possible.
