Apartment building designed for homeless and low-income families

In a triangular block where Fairmount Avenue merges into Ridge Avenue in North Philadelphia, another milestone for Project HOME is rising.

Workers are hurrying to finish the $16 million JBJ Soul Homes, a 55-unit apartment house for low-income and formerly homeless people.

Project HOME got its start 25 years ago, running a wintertime shelter for homeless men. Now, it's one of the most active nonprofit developers in the city.

Outside the site, two men in a cherry picker seal seams with caulking in the building's vermilion facade. Inside, others sweep hallways, haul away empty cardboard boxes, and mop floors.

About two years ago, his "home" was a steam vent outside a Chinatown restaurant at Ninth and Vine Streets. He was addicted to crack, and panhandling for money and food.

Today, he's clean, working full time for a builder, and living in a communal residence run by Project HOME. "There are not many places like this," Wise said.

People on the streets, he said, often have a choice between a shelter "or more depressing situations."

The JBJ Soul Homes will give homeless men and women "another shot at a normal life," Wise added.

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Apartment building designed for homeless and low-income families