Affordable Housing Community Unveiled In Port Richmond

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A community consisting of three dozen new affordable housing townhomes was unveiled in Port Richmond Friday.

A ribbon-cutting took place at the newly built Grace Townhomes. They add 36 affordable housing units to the city's inventory, which is important, according to Kelvin Jeremiah -- president and CEO of the Philadelphia Housing Authority -- because there are at least 100,000 Philadelphia families needing just that:

"For me, as the head of PHA, housing is fundamentally a question of human decency. You should be in a home that you can afford; and these families are paying what they can afford."

Nora Lichtash, director of the Women's Community Revitalization Project, says setting people up in their own homes has a much better return on investment than temporary solutions like shelters or foster care:

"Once a person has a home that they can afford that's safe, then they move onto the next step and get a job, get a better job, get some education. So it's really about an investment for the long term."

She says it costs around $22,000 to keep someone in a shelter.

In:
• Community
• Philadelphia
• Port Richmond