Pew Awards $9.1M for Food Security, Health, Community Safety, and Economic Advancement in Philadelphia

The Pew Charitable Trusts announced today that it has awarded $9.145 million to 18 organizations, including $8.3 million for seven groups working to expand access to public benefits, improve food security, reduce gun violence, and enhance children’s health and well-being in the Philadelphia region. The grants are part of Pew’s commitment to promoting economic advancement, health, and safety for all area residents.

In addition, Pew has awarded booster grants totaling $845,000 to 11 of its current grantees to expand already successful services so that they can build evidence to inform policy and meet emerging needs.

“The ability to meet basic needs such as access to food, health care, and financial support is a crucial building block for economic mobility. Now more than ever, it’s important to support organizations that are innovating and finding solutions to help all Philadelphians thrive,” said Kristin Romens, director of the Pew Fund for Health and Human Services in Philadelphia. “Pew’s grants will help ensure that these organizations are able to assist even more Philadelphians while helping to fill service gaps.”

The new grants will support:

• Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC), which has been awarded $3.3 million over five years to expand access to benefits in low-income communities in Eastern North Philadelphia. LISC collaborates with community-based organizations to reach their clients; Pew’s funding will strengthen its place-based collaborative model and help provide those partners with technical assistance, data management, and oversight to implement national models such as Financial Opportunity Centers, which have demonstrated positive impacts on employment, debt reduction, and credit scores.
• Sharing Excess, which has been awarded $2.8 million over five years to support the expansion of its food rescue and distribution network, an effort that improves access to healthy food throughout the Philadelphia region. Pew’s funding will also help the organization enhance its infrastructure and technology while building its capacity to evaluate and strengthen its programs, with the goal of reducing food waste and improving food security.
• Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which has been awarded $1 million over four years to support PolicyLab, an initiative designed to improve child health and well-being by using interdisciplinary research to inform program and policy changes. Pew’s support will help PolicyLab reach policymakers through multiple avenues, including convenings, published research, and social media.
• Penn Asian Senior Services (PASSi), which has been awarded $300,000 over two years to support the expansion of its benefits access program, with a focus on older adults and people with limited English proficiency. Along with Philabundance and the Pennsylvania Health Access Network (both of which also received support from Pew), PASSi will lead a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Coalition to fill the gap in SNAP outreach left by the recent closures of Benefits Data Trust and the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger.
• Philabundance, which has been awarded $300,000 over two years to connect eligible families with SNAP benefits through community food pantries. With Pew’s support, Philabundance will leverage its network of partners to identify and refer people in Philadelphia who are eligible for but not currently receiving SNAP benefits, supporting their enrollment and ensuring continued access to this benefit.
• Pennsylvania Health Access Network, which has been awarded $300,000 over two years to use community outreach, marketing, and a phone helpline to assist Philadelphia-area families in accessing public benefits. The organization will focus on serving hard-to-reach clients, with special attention to households with limited transportation, barriers to digital access, or language support needs.
• Civic Coalition to Save Lives, which has been awarded $300,000 over one year to support its efforts to reduce gun violence and create lasting systems for community safety in Philadelphia. With Pew’s support, the coalition will launch a public campaign to highlight progress in reducing violence and continue to build political will and coordination among city officials in working toward this goal.

In addition, Pew has awarded 11 current grantees one-time booster grants to help ensure their stability and continued impact.

The grantees receiving these booster awards are:

• Bethanna, to continue providing access to behavioral health and other supportive services for youth in foster care as well as foster families in Philadelphia.
• Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Violence Intervention Program, to continue supporting pediatric hospital-based services for victims of violent crimes.
• Drexel University’s Healing Hurt People, to continue providing supportive services to victims of violence as they recover from trauma.
• Elevate 215 (Para Pathway Program), to continue addressing Philadelphia’s teacher shortage by helping paraprofessionals complete bachelor’s degrees and earn teaching certifications.
• Health Federation of Philadelphia, to continue providing housing and care for older adults with serious mental illness.
• Impact Services Corp., to continue its community-level approach to addressing the opioid epidemic in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood.
• Pediatric Anxiety Treatment Center at Hall-Mercer, to improve access and engagement with its Family Peer program, which helps youth with specialized anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder and their families.
• Philadelphia Children’s Alliance, to support its promising interventions for child victims of abuse and exploitation.
• Temple University Hospital’s Trauma Victim Advocacy Program, for its hospital-based crisis interventions and referral services for victims of violence.
• Thomas Jefferson University (Bridge Program), to continue implementing its approach to addressing the opioid epidemic through integrated care for individuals with opioid use disorder.
• Valley Youth House Committee Inc., to help young people transition from temporary to permanent housing.

Regarding these booster grants, Romens added: “We are pleased to provide additional support to 11 Pew health and human services grantees that are making a big impact on the communities they serve. The support will help these organizations continue to make a difference in other people’s lives during a critical time for the nonprofit sector.”