On a rainswept Friday morning in April, there’s a throng of activity outside of 5350 Delancey Street, where Rudolph Edge has lived for three decades. Tents line the pavement. A makeshift DJ booth is playing Earth, Wind & Fire. Kids are running around while parents are sipping coffee.
Though it’s not a block party, you could be easily fooled. “We haven’t been outside like this for years,” Edge, the block captain, says with a big dimpled smile.
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It’s a scene he’s been manifesting for some time. Alongside his neighbors in the street are dozens of volunteers and housing contractors, who, like an army of ants, continuously flow into and out of 11 different homes on the block. The teams steadily execute a list of property repairs which includes everything from replacing floorboards to installing new flower boxes to hauling decades-old garbage out of attics.
What’s actually unfolding is known as a “block build” — the signature program of nonprofit Rebuilding Together Philadelphia (RTP). Three times per year, RTP-affiliated volunteers and skilled workers descend on a low-income block in order to fix up owner-occupied homes. Once the electricians, plumbers and roofers do the heavy lifting, a legion of volunteers swoops in to apply the finishing touches during a two-day block build. (RTP is currently looking for volunteers for its June 7 block build in Fairhill.)
Everything is provided at no cost to the homeowners.
Edge isn’t the only one from the block who is beaming. “I’m getting ready to cry, that’s how happy I am,” says Shirley Jackson, another longtime resident of the block whose home is getting fixed up. “It’s a blessing.”
Rebuilding a block
In April, more than 200 volunteers showed up for RTP’s latest block build. Altogether, RTP spent about $18,000 on each of the 11 participating homes, making them safer, more accessible for the elderly, energy-efficient and primed to be passed down to another generation. One of RTP’s goals is to use home repairs as a vehicle for generational wealth. But the program also reduces some of the financial burden of existing owners, many of whom are senior citizens, while they’re still living there.
“I always say that the most affordable home is the one you already live in,” says Stefanie Seldin, president and CEO of RTP, noting the city’s overall lack of affordable homes for sale.
The impacts go beyond that, however. “We have all of these statistics to show how home repairs improve physical health, mental health, and can reduce crime on a block by 21.9 percent,” says Seldin, referring to a peer-reviewed 2021 study that found positive ripple results to even a single roof being repaired in a community. “But there’s something even more important.”
RTP sees its home repairs program as a bulwark against displacement. “It’s especially profound on a block like 5300 Delancey, which is not very far from the El and close to a gazillion buses that can get you to University City or downtown in 10 minutes,” says Seldin. “There’s that pressure of gentrification. Nothing is more important than preserving someone’s ability to stay in a community with neighbors they know and who care for them.”
“The most affordable home is the one you already live in.” — Stefanie Seldin, Rebuilding Together Philadelphia
Social capital is not only a product of RTP and its block builds, but also a prerequisite to pulling them off. Edge had to convince a group of his neighbors before RTP, which prides itself on closely collaborating with homeowners throughout the process, could officially name them as the site of the next block build. Some people thought it might be a scam. “One guy told me, When are they going to send the invoice?” he recalls.
Eventually, Jackson and 10 other homeowners agreed to participate, because of their relationship with Edge — who originally came across RTP while picking up free boxes of fresh produce for his elderly neighbors. “I trust Rudy,” says Jackson.
This spring’s block build felt prescient. Mayor Cherelle Parker had recently declared a “housing crisis” and introduced a $800 million plan to help solve it — which is likely to be offset by President Trump’s proposed federal cuts to a slew of programs designed to preserve the nation’s housing infrastructure. Given the uncertainty over funding at multiple levels of government, the need for housing solutions that come from nonprofits and private developers are more important than ever.
And for Edge, the help arrived just in time. Two weeks before he first met with RTP’s contractors, a sewer pipe burst at his home. The roof then began to leak. Normally, he says he’d spiral with anxious thoughts while looking at the stain — not only about the cost to fix it, but also the time to get an honest quote for the work. Luckily, he didn’t have to worry this time. “The best part of this program is that every contractor is certified, licensed, and bonded. They knew exactly what they were doing,” he says, before modifying his answer:
“The best part is that it’s bringing the community back together.”
Making a model
In 1987, Wharton graduate student Robert Bellinger approached his Dean with an idea, one that he’d been unknowingly developing for years.
During his undergraduate years at Haverford College, Bellinger heard from a member of his church about a service project, known as “Christmas in April.” The idea originated in Midland, Texas in the 1970s, when a group of churchgoers began dedicating an entire day to fixing up their neighbors’ homes. They were helping out with a basic need in their low-income community, which at the time lacked virtually any government programs for home repairs.
Bellinger first helped replicate the idea within his hometown church outside of Washington, D.C. Then, studying at Wharton, he began to think more deeply about solutions to housing concerns and issues of economic development in West Philly. Bellinger pitched the Dean of Wharton on a “Christmas in April” concept, but one that could deliver more impact. Not only was the Dean receptive to funding the organization that later became RTP, he pledged to get Penn more deeply involved. He offered up the help of Penn’s skilled trades workers on staff to do the home repairs.
“I am such a fan of Rebuilding Together Philly, because the work that they do makes a big impact.” — Jamie Gauthier, City Council
“[Penn] got us started,” Bellinger, who is now an investment banker, says during April’s block build. “The partnership has been super strong ever since.”
In 2022, RTP received a $1.7 million grant from Penn to renovate 75 homes in West Philly, which covered the costs of the latest block build. That pledge began with conversations between Penn Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli and City Councilwoman Jamie Gauthier amidst the protracted controversy over the eventual demolition of the University City townhomes which displaced more than 70 families. Gauthier urged the university to do more to create and preserve affordable housing in its backyard.
At the same time, Penn has a long and complex history of supporting housing initiatives, some of which have been blamed for raising costs — instead of lowering them — in West Philly. This time around, the University saw itself not as a builder, but as a convener. Carnaroli held a series of conversations with developers, community groups and politicians — asking the open-ended question: What role can we play? They landed on the idea of supporting existing homeowners, which led him to the work of RTP.
According to Carnaroli, the gift falls in line with Penn’s “3.0” strategy of neighborhood engagement, where they are focused on “trying to reach beyond the traditional borders of the university campus, partnering with effective nonprofits, and preserving assets that allow people to remain in their homes,” he says.
“Let’s get it done!”
It’s no coincidence that Philadelphia has the highest homeownership rate of any major U.S. city, and also the highest poverty rate. Research by the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia and others have noted the gargantuan gap that exists between the home values of White and non-White owners in the city. That “racial housing wealth gap” — the result of myriad factors, including racially biased assessments and lending discrimination — is estimated to be about $57 billion across the city.
In other words, the day-to-day reality of homeownership does not feel like a fulfillment of the American Dream for many Philadelphians. According to a 2020 report from the Pew Charitable Trusts, more than 230,000 households — roughly one-third of the city — are “cost-burdened” by their homes, which means they spend 30 percent or more of their income on housing. While that number includes more renters than owners, almost 32 percent of all households with a mortgage fall into this category.
“All of our work enables these homeowners to stay, and to deal with the pressures of displacement that they face by all the other rising costs you hear in the news,” says Seldin.
“Statistics show home repairs improve physical health, mental health, and can reduce crime on a block by 21.9 percent.” — Stefanie Seldin, Rebuilding Together Philadelphia
Philadelphia has some of the oldest housing stock in the country. RTP is one of several public and nonprofit programs to offer assistance with home repairs. But some of those other efforts have been jeopardized by recent changes at the federal and state level. In 2022, Pennsylvania launched a popular Whole-Home Repairs program — introduced by State Sen. Nikil Saval — utilizing $125 million in federal pandemic aid. Thousands of homeowners, including some 700 in Philadelphia, received up to $50,000 for safety improvements and maintenance. Although the program has been praised on both sides of the aisle — U.S. Senator John Fetterman has pushing for a national version — Harrisburg, over the last two legislative sessions, has failed to allocate any more money to Whole-Home Repairs beyond its initial funding stream. (Governor Shapiro has proposed $50 million for a like-minded program in his latest budget, which has not yet been passed.)
Meanwhile, President Trump has called for extensive budget cuts for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which could eliminate even more resources for low-income homeowners.
“At a time when the federal government is not a reliable partner, we need to do this together,” Gauthier said in front of the crowd attending the April event. “I am such a fan of Rebuilding Together Philly, because the work that they do makes a big impact.”
As she championed the efforts of RTP, Gauthier, who chairs the Council’s Housing Committee, also spoke to the high demand for services of the same kind. The City’s Basic System Repairs Program spends about $1 million per week, she said, and yet an affordability crisis persists across the city.
In the wake of Mayor Parker’s recently unveiled plan to pump $800 million into affordable housing, some of RTP’s boosters would like to see a share go towards more block builds. “Rebuilding Together Philadelphia is the greatest of all time — the GOAT,” said State Senator Vincent Hughes. “We have to work with Council and the Mayor to make sure that some of the $800 million gets down to Rebuilding Together, so that we can build some more blocks. Let’s get it done!”
This story was supported in part by the Solutions Journalism Network’s Building Democracy program.
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