Philadelphia officials are moving forward with Mayor Cherelle Parker’s $2 billion Housing Opportunities Made Easy (H.O.M.E.) initiative, which aims to create and preserve 30,000 housing units, but some advocates say the plan doesn’t adequately prioritize low-income and senior residents. City planning director Jessie Lawrence highlighted the plan’s flexibility, noting, “We’re just prepared to respond to what folks need the most. And if in fact that’s senior housing, we’ll find the way to make sure we support that.” Under the current proposal, only one program, a $3.8 million homelessness prevention initiative, is exclusively for households earning at or below 30% of the area median income. For a family of four, that translates to $35,800 a year. And yet more than 200,000 Philadelphians live at that income level, according to research published this year by the Housing Initiative at Penn. Critics, including City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, are pushing for more targeted funding for households earning under $30,000 annually and for senior housing programs. Read more at PlanPhilly.
Source: PlanPhilly; 11/10/2025