Broad Street Love — Local services in Philadelphia

It's very unfortunately one of the few resources to homeless people in the area, it needs a lot of improvements.

I was there in 2015:

The stuff like mail and snack bags is fine. But they serve food and small portions without seconds and thirds, no matter how many people attended or how much food there is left. with them being one of the few places to eat in the area, that is a huge problem.

There is/was another place a few feet away, but it had/has much less space and the food was/ is lower quality. And it's for women and children only.

it seemed like the only resources that they were limited in was food, despite the abundance of resources in their other programs within the building.

And the winter shelter is/was also problematic. Just a bare floor, with no proper washing facility. They didn't even have mats and let a person supply their own bedding. I caught onto using a cardboard box to put between me and the floor from other clients. And we had a basic stalled restroom weather only option to clean ourselves and our clothes out of a basic sink, if necessary. And the hours were from 9 or 10 until 5 or 6. A whole 8 hours of sleep was not an option. And, then you go out into a city that harasses people for sleeping in public.

the idea that you can just give the poor and homeless anything and we should be grateful is inhumane and selfish. I'm not saying that it is the reflection of this organization. I am saying that people should have humane and compassionate attitudes when addressing the homeless, and I find that most people don't. Homeless people should be healthy, safe, and comfortable - because those things should be human and or civil rights. Not things only accessible by a paywall. So don't say people shouldn't complain. Complain is how people get what they...

For a place who likes to put themself out there as people wanting to help and even goes as far as to say they are pushing radical hospitality those are their words not mine radical hospitality when the mail came in a half hour before closing Sam the person in charge of mail told me it was too much trouble for him to go through the mail to dig out my check even after I explained to him that I had no money to get home no money to eat with and that there were people at home depending on me to bring the check come and buy food but with a very salty attitude he told me that I would just have to wait till tomorrow cuz he didn't have time to go through the mail and sort it and in a 1/2 hour I thought even unskilled at sorting mail I thought I could have easily sorted the mail in less than half that time here's what happens people showing up and say they want to help and then they realize that they're not being paid for a much for their help as they may like or there's not much appreciation for the help they're giving and they become salty towards the job itself my thinking is that at this point you should stop helping because you're not helping anymore you're hurting because you have an attitude towards the job.. this is how I feel Sam was a very cheerful fellow but lately he has become a very nasty uncooperative miserable man maybe there are other things to take into account but I am more inclined to think that it is the job that he is unhappy with if you're reading this sam I think you should look to other employment because your bad attitude isn't helping anyone in fact it hurt us I had to stand on a corner and beg strangers for change to feed my family that day and get my check the...

Hello Philadelphia, you majestic city.

I would not have survived your streets had it not been for this place.

Being homeless is like being in Indiana Jones 24/7 except you can really, truly die. I had my ID and personal belongings stolen twice, I had to get a new copy of my birth certificate, I ran out of money and had to be extra resourceful, I had to find free food, I had to find clothes...

Man, you know, ya'll helped me get my mail, so I could FINALLY receive SSDI and get off the streets! You all replaced my ID for free, twice. You helped me safely get my birth certificate. You fed me for lunch many, many times, and it was real food. You got me new underwear (a lot) and hygiene supplies so I could stand living in my body.

I was even given the opportunity to work for you all as a Voter Registration person, and got a very nice letter thanking me for my service. Very cool. Sometimes I just had to talk and I was also given the space to do that.

So, now that I am in my OWN, PRIVATE, BEAUTIFUL place! I wanted to come back and publicly thank you for your service, your heart, your mission, and your excellence in the Philadelphia community. Without you, I would never have gotten to where I am today. Point blank, that is...