Improve Health and Wellness Programs Operating in the Community

Residents in the community reported needing better access to health care, and drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs. Availability of healthy food at affordable prices was a high priority for many, with residents reporting needing to go half a mile from home for fresh produce and meats. Other identified needs and opportunities included access to mental health and dental clinics, access to recreation amenities, improved coordination of health care services, and expanded services for disabled residents.

The opening of Project HOME’s Stephen Klein Wellness Center in Sharswood is a major milestone and starting point for improving health and wellness in the community. The new federally qualified health center provides much-needed services to both the homeless population and residents living in poverty. Partnerships with the Department of Public Health, Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services, and Public Health Management Corporation will also help create a continuum of services.

Strategy 1: Establish a Continuum of Care for Seniors

• 1.1 Partner with the Stephen Klein Wellness Center to create and sustain a culture of wellness for seniors through outreach and provision of services.
• 1.2 Provide behavioral and psychological health services to seniors, including establishing an Adult Day Center in the renovated Blumberg Senior Building and working with health care institutions to provide house calls to elderly and disabled residents.

Performance Indicators and Metrics

• Total number of neighborhood participants in Klein Center program
• Total number of participants at the Adult Day Center
• Total number of house calls

Strategy 2: Coordinate and Promote Supportive Services

• 2.1 Expand community access to prenatal care and developmental health screenings for young children.
• 2.2 Establish trained Health Navigators to connect residents to local supportive services and help them enroll for health coverage.
• 2.3 Increase awareness of health and sex education programming to decrease teenage pregnancy rate.
• 2.4 Promote health education for families to understand risks, signs, and symptoms of long-term illness, such diabetes and heart disease.

Performance Indicators and Metrics

• Prenatal health assessments
• Rate of teenage pregnancy

Total number of Health Navigators serving the neighborhood

Strategy 3: Address Youth Violence through Trauma-Informed Care

• 3.1 Coordinate with the City’s Youth Anti-Violence campaign in the 22nd District and identify resident youth that have been victims of, or witnesses to, violence and connect them to youth trauma services.
• 3.2 Provide after-school programming during the peak hours of youth violence (between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays).

Performance Indicators and Metrics

• Total number of youth residents identified as victims of, or witnesses, to violence
• Total number of after-school programs administered in the neighborhood between the hours of 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.
• Total number of youth and percentage of youth participating in after-school programming

Partners

In order to execute on the supporting strategies to achieve this goal, the People Taskforce members identified the following list
of partners that will be critical to expanding services for health and wellness programming:

• Project HOME
• Public Health Management Corporation
• City of Philadelphia Department of Public Health
• City of Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services
• Jefferson University Center for Urban Health
• Drexel University Health and Trauma Counseling Clinic
• Brewerytown-Sharswood Community and Civic Association
• City of Philadelphia Youth Violence Prevention Collaborative
• Philadelphia Police Department 22nd District