FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dionne Watts-Williams / 215-713-4875 / press@powerinterfaith.org
Philadelphia, PA (November 19, 2025) – The federal government may be back open and Pennsylvania’s long-stalled budget is finally in place, but for thousands of Philadelphians, the relief hasn’t reached their kitchen tables. Bills keep rising, wages aren’t keeping up, and the city’s recent decision to phase out the Business Income and Receipts Tax (BIRT) threatens to drain billions from services people rely on.
In the middle of this pressure cooker, 26 congregations stood together last week, holding 14 press events across the city to shine a light on the growing affordability crisis, and to demand City Council create a revenue plan to replace the estimated $2.8 billion in lost revenue through BIRT cuts, per calculations done by the PA Policy Center.
“While families go hungry and city services face cuts, our leaders are handing out tax breaks to big corporations,” said Rev. Dr. Gregory Edwards, Executive Director of POWER Interfaith.
Throughout the week, dozens of people across every neighborhood told their stories about how the affordability crisis is hitting their households in real time, and how the tax breaks may affect their family and community:
- “My property taxes went up from $975 to $4,300. I’m paying thousands of dollars a year to look at a park full of weeds and broken sidewalks. Meanwhile, corporations buying up our blocks pay nothing at all. Where is the fairness in that?” (Saretta Green, member of Provision of Grace World Mission Church, small business owner)
- “I live in West Philadelphia…I show up every day as an outreach specialist and crime victim advocate. So when City Council cuts the BIRT tax, 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 – like hospital support, mental health care, and violence prevention. Between the government shutdown and SNAP benefits being delayed, people are stretched beyond their limits. 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, member of Salt and Light Church, Outreach Specialist)
- “I worked for the city for years but even then I was living paycheck to paycheck. As a retiree, nothing has changed. When my West Philly apartment building caught fire this past May, it was condemned. I spent three days in a Red Cross shelter, then moved into a temporary townhouse until August 1. I don’t have a computer, so even searching for housing was a struggle. My income is “too high” for low-income senior housing, yet I still can’t afford what’s on the market. Too many people are being pushed into unsafe, unstable situations. Rents are sky-high, and folks are being forced to double up with family and friends just to survive.” (Barbara Gurley, member of Old First Reformed UCC. Retiree)
- “I work with young and disabled folks every day who can’t find stable housing, even when they work full-time. Shelters are full, and rent is out of reach. I spend hours with my clients applying for housing need lists, which can sometimes take up to 15 years before they hear anything. And as someone who is lucky enough to obtain two degrees and a full-time job in my field, even I can barely afford to pay my bills at the moment…and now the city is throwing away $2.8 billion that could have kept people off the street.” (Dana Buchan, Case Manager)
- “Like many people in this city, I live with my parents and brother, because none of us can afford rent on our own. After losing our family house to foreclosure this year, sharing an apartment wasn’t just a choice. It was how we stayed housed. 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. 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. People doing everything right and still barely holding on. People who can truly not take one more hit.” (Robert Balfour Austin, Full-Time Student & Full-Time Child Welfare Worker)
The stories didn’t trickle in; they poured out. Parents, students, seniors, and workers stretched so thin that rent, groceries, utilities, and property taxes feel like four different battles. Again and again, people described a city where stability is slipping out of reach.
“Through the elimination of revenue generated by big businesses, Philadelphia City Council is accelerating a crisis that’s already pushing poor and working people to the brink. We need them to provide financial relief- not for big business, but for the families struggling to survive,” says Lilah Saber, POWER’s Philadelphia Organizing Director.
Last summer, POWER Interfaith surveyed more than 900 people across Philadelphia congregations. Thirty percent said they cannot afford their rent or property taxes each month. Photos and event highlights can be found here.
People of faith from across the city will gather again on February 1, 2026 at Mother Bethel AME Church, for a citywide assembly where POWER Interfaith will invite councilmembers to join a conversation about a revenue plan that works for all, solutions to end the affordability crisis, and to create a city that honors the dignity and needs of every Philadelphian.
More on the Affordable Housing fight here.
Press Coverage:
- ‘Lacking a moral compass’: Activists call on Philly officials to repeal cuts to city’s business tax (WHYY)
- Local faith leaders push back on tax cuts and rising costs (Germantown Info Hub)
- Faith leaders call for housing affordability and a repeal of city’s business tax cuts (Chestnut Hill Local)
- United Methodists from across Philadelphia gather to advocate for change amidst affordability crisis
