Richard K. Bennett Lectureship for Peace and Social Justice
Sister Mary Scullion
Monday, March 8, 2010
12:30 PM and 7 PM
Sister Mary Scullion has been involved in service work and advocacy for homeless and mentally ill persons since 1978. She was a co-founder in 1985 of Woman of Hope, which provides permanent residences and support services for homeless mentally ill women. In 1988 she helped to found the Outreach Coordination Center, an innovative program coordinating private and public agencies doing outreach to chronically homeless persons in Center City Philadelphia.
Sister Mary is also a powerful voice on political issues affecting homelessness and mentally ill persons. Her advocacy efforts resulted in the right of homeless persons to vote as well as a landmark federal court decision that affects the fair housing rights of persons with disabilities.
In 1989, Sister Mary Scullion and Joan Dawson McConnon co-founded Project H.O.M.E., a nationally recognized organization that provides supportive housing, employment, education and health care to enable chronically homeless and low-income persons to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty. To date, Project H.O.M.E. has leveraged over $50,000,000 in equity towards housing and economic development. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) selected Project H.O.M.E. as one of the "100 Best Practices" nationwide out of 3,000 nominees, and the Philanthropy Roundtable selected Project H.O.M.E. as one of the "16 most efficient and innovative charities we know of anywhere."
