Like other Philadelphians, Yolanda Jennings thinks her city has become too expensive for everyday people like her. Unlike others in the City of Brotherly Love, however, Jennings sees the affordability crisis playing out first-hand — at work and in her personal life.
“I show up every day as an outreach specialist and crime victim advocate,” Jennings, speaking at a faith-based forum last weekend at Philadelphia’s historic Mother Bethel AME Church, said. When the city cuts taxes on wealthy businesses, she says, “it falls on the very people I work with every day, and on people like me, because it funds the things that keep people stable.”
The crisis hits again, she says, when she heads home after work: “I can’t even afford a full apartment in this city. I live in a room. I work full-time. I serve survivors. I show up, and still I cannot afford safe, stable housing in the city I serve.”
Jennings was among some 500 Philadelphians from over 30 congregations and faith traditions who braved the frigid temperatures Sunday to gather for the Philadelphia Affordability Summit. Organized by POWER Interfaith, the event aimed to confront the city’s growing affordability crisis, an issue compounded by budget cuts and policy decisions at the local and federal levels.
Influence and Moral Power
Participants representing Christian, Jewish, Islamic, and other faith traditions brought their collective concern about displacement and economic pressure on poor and working families.
The purpose of the meeting was to gather public testimony and engage with elected officials about the real-life impact of the affordability crisis playing out through spending and revenue priorities. Coupled with housing and development plans, the city’s strategies result in a growing number of families struggling to stay housed, healthy, and stable.
While Philadelphia was the focus of the summit last weekend, faith-based organizations nationwide are using their influence to tackle housing affordability in their communities. The actions run the gamut, from gatherings like the POWER event last weekend to churches building homes on their property — the so-called YIMBY, or Yes In God’s Backyard, movement.
I can’t even afford a full apartment in this city. I live in a room. I work full-time. I serve survivors. I show up, and still I cannot afford safe, stable housing in the city I serve.
Yolanda Jennings, PHILADELPHIA VICTIM ADVOCATE
In Philadelphia, residents shared firsthand stories about rising rents, increasing property taxes, homelessness, and school district funding, and spoke openly about their concerns. One particular problem is the Business Income & Receipts Tax, also known as the BIRT Tax. The revenue had been used to fund programs to help the city’s low income residents, but leaders recently reduced the tax to spur business development.
‘I’m Just Trying to Survive’
The gathering at Mother Bethel also included interfaith prayer, reflection, grounding, a congregation roll call, and shared expectations for respectful and accountable engagement with elected officials.
In his testimony, Howard Forrest told the panel he recently lost the house he was supposed to inherit from his great-grandmother.
“I was couch surfing with friends and family. I’m in the shelters, and I get [disability payments], but that’s not enough for me to pay rent,” he said. “Now I’m staying at Rail Park. I’ve been out there for the past couple of Code Blues,” city-declared, cold-weather emergencies, when sleeping outdoors becomes life-threatening.
“I’m just trying to survive,” he said.
Ironically, Philadelphia has plenty of abandoned properties “that are boarded up, all these high-rises that have been torn down, and now all these townhouses,” Forrest said. “How come we don’t have those for the people that need it the most?”
Robert Balfour Alston’s situation is a little different: he lives with his parents and brother because none of them can afford their own homes. Sharing an apartment was the only option after the family lost their house to foreclosure this year.
“It was how we stayed housed,” says Alston, who works as a child welfare worker while attending college full-time. “My mother is 68, with mobility issues, and my father is 74 with cardiac problems; both living on fixed incomes. In a city where everything keeps going up except wages, that is frightening.”
Life on the Edge
What’s worse, he says, is how fragile his own situation has become.
“When you’re already living on the edge, one unexpected bill will throw your whole household into a crisis,” he says. “And while I’m in school trying to build a better future, it feels like a double-edged sword. With the wages in my field, I honestly wonder if I’ll ever see a return on investment.”
Philadelphia City Councilmembers Nicolas O’Rourke and Isaiah Thomas answered questions from constituents during a legislative panel facilitated by Rev. Cean James of Salt & Light Church of West Philadelphia. A representative from the office of Philadelphia City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier also participated.
During the summit, POWER Interfaith formally called on the City Council to produce a comprehensive affordability report examining how revenue cuts, local tax policies, and development decisions are impacting everyday Philadelphians.
“This was more than a turnout. This was public witness,” Rev. Dr. Gregory Edwards, executive director of POWER Interfaith, said in a statement. “Across faiths and neighborhoods, people made clear that affordability is being shaped by choices at every level of government. An affordability report is a necessary step toward honesty, accountability, and solutions that reflect how people are actually living.”
