Our City-Wide Assembly
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OUR CITY-WIDE ASSEMBLY
Over 500 Philadelphians across 30 congregations met at the historic Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church with elected city Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke and Councilmember Isaiah Thomas to discuss the city’s growing affordability crisis.
Members from Christian, Muslim, Jewish and additional faith traditions gathered and offered open testimony to the visiting council members, sharing firsthand experience with rising rents, increasing property taxes, homelessness, school district funding and cuts to city services.
NEXT STEPS
Following our February 2026 assembly, it was clear that we must continue to organize
Here’ how we build power together.
- Share and collect stories. We are launching a citywide affordability story collection drive with a goal of gathering 2,000 stories by March 1. These stories will accompany the affordability report and make clear what these decisions mean for real families and communities.
- Join a neighborhood training. We’re hosting a series of neighborhood meetings to train leaders on how to build teams and collect stories effectively. Please register in advance using the links provided:
- (West / Southwest Philly: February 7
- Northwest Philly: February 10
- North Philly: February 16
- Center City: February 17
- Clergy and faith leaders call. If you are clergy or a faith leader, we invite you to join us for a Zoom call this Friday, February 6, from 9:30am – 11am to talk through next steps and leadership in this moment. Register here.
Affordable Housing
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CAMPAIGN ANALYSIS
Rising rent coupled with stagnant wages and predatory housing developers have caused a housing insecurity for our most vulnerable communities. The many that do own homes face mortgage increases in homes that lack repair; leaving them vulnerable to health and safety concerns. These circumstances lead to pushing people towards homelessness, denying people their dignity and respect they deserve for simply existing.
THE FACTS
- Property taxes rose on average 23% last year, disproportionately affecting black and brown Philadelphians.
- Philadelphia has already lost 280 million dollars in federal funding and there is another 2 billion on the line!
- The School District of Philadelphia is taking 300 million out of reserves to cover next year’s budget.
- More Philly renters are scraping by each month, dealing with stagnant wages and higher costs.
In November 2025, 24 of our congregations rose with hundreds of people of faith, presenting solutions to elected officials and the press. We advocated for a budget that prioritizes people over corporate profits. See full press release here
- Property taxes rose on average 23% last year, disproportionately affecting black and brown Philadelphians.
- Philadelphia has already lost 280 million dollars in federal funding and there is another 2 billion on the line!
- The School District of Philadelphia is taking 300 million out of reserves to cover next year’s budget.
- More Philly renters are scraping by each month, dealing with stagnant wages and higher costs.
PATHWAY TO POWER
A City-wide effort to housing affordability in Philadelphia
POWER has hit the ground running organizing around our congregation’s main pain points. We met with over 600 Philadelphians within 9 out of 10 council districts, and found that affordable housing insecurity is at an all time high. The most deeply and widely felt issue across lines of neighborhoods, race, class, and faith, was housing affordability, and the consequences of unaffordable housing, including gentrification, rising gun violence due to unstable neighborhoods, and inequitably funded schools that are radically different by zip code.
We are amplifying the voices of the people. By sharing the real life stories of congregation members, we have created a direct funnel of communication to our city representatives. These stories shape our next form of action and invite elected leaders to our district town halls.
Our POWER Chapters across Pennsylvania have strategically organized town halls to bridge the gap between our state-council members/legislative staff and our community members. The people get a direct line of communication with elected officials discussing the realities of their district’s affordable housing issue, and find workable solutions with electeds present.
Take action now and join us as we organize to bring housing affordability to every Philadelphia district.