is a nonprofit organization that provides shelter, housing, and programs reaching out to chronically homeless men and women in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. From humble beginnings as a small group of volunteers, Bethesda Project has grown to provide care that encompasses emergency shelter, housing, and supportive services at 14 locations in and around Center City Philadelphia. Bethesda Project now serves over 2,500 homeless and formerly homeless men and women each year without regard to their race, age, religion, gender, disability, or sexual orientation.
Mission statement
The mission of Bethesda Project is to find and care for the abandoned poor and to be family with those who have none.
History
“Bethesda,” from the Hebrew for “house of loving kindness,” was the name of a pool on the outskirts of Jerusalem where the outcasts and marginalized gathered seeking healing. It was there that Jesus intervened on behalf of a long-suffering man who had no one to help him. Bethesda Project wants to intervene on behalf of those who have no one to turn to. Bethesda Project was founded in 1979 by Father Domenic Rossi, a Catholic priest of the Norbertine Order at Daylesford Abbey in Paoli, PA. Sister Mary Klock, a nun who had been doing outreach on the streets of Center City, called Fr. Rossi and asked if he would take over responsibility for 10 mentally ill and homeless women she had coaxed into moving into a cramped space above a tavern at 12th and Sansom Streets. Fr. Rossi and members of his prayer group had been seeking to discern how to answer God’s call “to care for the abandoned poor” and Bethesda Project was born. Fr. Rossi and a number of volunteers devoted their time to meeting the most basic needs of the most vulnerable people in Center City. What started off as a completely volunteer-run effort eventually became an extensive network of facilities and programs for homeless men and women. In 1980 Bethesda Project incorporated as a nonprofit organization.
Bethesda Shelter Programs
Spruce House
In 1983 Bethesda Project purchased a house on Spruce Street that became a permanent home for the women who had been living in the rooming house at 12th and Sansom. Bethesda Spruce Street provides for 16 women who cope with chronic mental illness.
Bethesda Project opened My Brother's House in 1984 as a shelter for men. Located at 15th and South Streets, it currently serves as a safe haven where 20 vulnerable men with untreated mental illness or addictions are offered an array of supportive services to stabilize their medical and mental health conditions to help prepare them for more independent living. Also in 1984, Bethesda Project established its church shelter program. Meals, overnight shelter, and case management services are provided for more than 80 homeless men, in partnership with three area churches. St. Mary’s Episcopal Church partners with Bethesda Project year-round while and Old First Reformed Church provide shelter during the winter months.
Bethesda Bainbridge
In 1986 Bethesda Bainbridge opened to house 28 men with histories of addiction or mental illness. Today, Bethesda Bainbridge, located at 15th and Bainbridge, provides permanent single room occupancy housing with supportive services for 30 men with histories of addiction and/or mental illness.
Sanctuary
In 1988 Bethesda Project acquired a former convent at 20th and Christian Street, and a building at 720 North Broad Street. The convent became Sanctuary, a transitional housing unit for 16 men in recovery.
Bethesda North Broad
Bethesda North Broad became permanent housing for 49 men and women with histories of addiction or mental illness.
Dominic House and Mary House
Between 1996 and 1997, Bethesda Project acquired two more properties – Domenic House, which serves as its administrative offices in a storefront at 1630 South Street with six independent housing apartments upstairs for seven formerly homeless adults; and Mary House at 707 S. Hicks Street, a subsidized independent living environment for four men. Domenic House and Mary House are long-term, residential facilities for individuals prepared for a stable, largely self-sufficient living experience.
Our Brother's Place
At the request of the City of Philadelphia, Bethesda Project took over operation of a large men’s shelter at 9th and Hamilton Streets in 2003. provides emergency shelter for 150 men as well as meals and programs for an additional 120 men who walk in each day. One of the largest shelters in Philadelphia, Our Brothers’ Place welcomes the Philadelphia Phillies organization and the Philadelphia Eagles organization each year to serve meals to its residents.
315 South Café
In partnership with , in 2006 Bethesda Project began operation of the 315 South Café, a low demand overnight drop-in center during winter months providing respite from the cold where coffee, soup, and services are available for up to 75 people who are homeless and shelter-resistant. Part of Bethesda Project’s , the Broad Street Ministry site, located at 315 S. Broad Street, also serves as a day-time drop-in center offering year-round referrals to social services and maintaining relationships with individuals who visit the Bethesda Café.
Connelly House
Bethesda Project’s newest addition is Connelly House, a unique partnership with Project H.O.M.E. providing 79 units of affordable housing for people in recovery from addiction or mental illness. The LEED-certified building on 13th Street just south of Market houses Bethesda Project’s program for 24 men in recovery from addiction and opened its doors in 2010.
