Mayor Cherelle Parker, as she nears the end of her second year in office, is directing her administration to do more for people living on Philadelphia’s streets.
In a directive issued Friday, she ordered the city’s Office of Homeless Services and other municipal departments to facilitate and support the opening of 1,000 new shelter beds by the end of next month in a bid to “end street homelessness in Philadelphia.”
The annual Point-in-Time, or PIT, count – during which volunteers fan out across the city on a single winter night to tally the homeless population – registered 1,178 unsheltered individuals in early 2025, up 21% from last year and 67% over the 2023 number, according to data from the administration…