Our Approach

The Philly House Approach

Philly House combines twenty-first century best practices with Christian compassion to care for those experiencing homelessness. This includes incorporating concepts from When Helping Hurts.

We empower everyone whom we serve through trauma-informed spiritual formation, a model that emphasizes more holistic, relational, long-term solutions to how one spiritually grows.   

We are committed to creating a safe, predictable, non-threatening environment where our guests and clients can learn about God in a safe, respectful, non-coercive or manipulative manner.

Philly House has identified three major categories of holistic long-term solutions for our guests through our Stability Strategy. Like rungs on a ladder, guests build skills and move from crisis to thriving with a focus on building resources, becoming restored and re-engaging in the world around them.

Resources: Food, Income, Gov’t IDs, Education, and Health. For instance - over 60% walk through our doors without a single form of Government ID (driver’s license, birth certificate, Social Security card, etc.).
Renewed in emotional and physical wellness while Restoring relationships within themselves and to God. We believe in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which explains that none of these are possible without having our needs of food, water, shelter, safety, and security met daily.
Re-engagement: Re-Integrating into the community through life skills, employment, housing and community connections. One primary achievement is family reunification - we foster healthy connections to family members, who may have been alienated from one’s life.

Philly House Case Managers, Spiritual Care Coordinator and Homeless Services staff help guests progress toward stability. Our goal is to help every shelter guest achieve stability in all three categories and for our NEXT Level and Spiritual Recovery residents to become thriving.

We aim to understand the solutions and then promote and proclaim them to our guests. Through a biblical worldview, we seek to create a safe place for guests/clients to identify their goals and improve their sense of self, God and others. Resolving their barriers to achieving goals is Philly House’s daily job.

Causes of
Homelessness

Sometimes the cause of homelessness cannot be pinned down to one particular cause, but rather a mix of circumstances in someone’s life.  Discover the 6 common causes of homelessness we see most often.

Learn more