Morning Headlines: Jon Bon Jovi’s New Soul Homes Open in Fairmount
A 55-unit mixed-use housing project by Project HOME will open its doors to many of the city’s formerly homeless this week — thanks in large part to Jon Bon Jovi and his unlikely partnership with Sister Mary Scullion.
Scullion recently told Philly Mag’s Joel Mathis how that relationship evolved:
“Jon was the co-owner of the Soul (Arena Football League) team at that time, and he was staying at the Ritz Carlton on Broad Street. He looked out his window and saw someone just out in the bitter cold and got his sound engineer and said to him, ‘Can you find me an organization in this area that we could partner with to do something about this? It’s an intolerable condition.'”
Scullion told NewsWorks today that JBJ Soul Homes is the 25-year-old agency’s “first initiative to provide permanent supportive housing for youth that are homeless or are aging out of foster care with an emphasis on education and employment.”
The “JBJ” in the title, of course, stands for Jon Bon Jovi and his JBJ Soul Foundation, for which we are grateful.
(Should you be interested in his personal housing tribulations, he lowered the price on his New York penthouse back in November (and again more recently).
• New homes target a unique homeless population in Philly [NewsWorks]
In other news…
• Transformation Fit For A Queen (Village) [Hidden City]
• Phila. Lawmakers Move To Scrub Area Near Proposed Casino [CBS3]
• Cella Luxuria gives itself a first birthday present: More room [PhillyLiving]
• 15th Street Mansion Finally Getting Built [Naked Philly]
• Hotel in Northeast Philadelphia put up for sale [Philadelphia Business Journal]
