Hope in Philly

What began as a simple conversation about reaching a community plagued with high crime rates and few professing Christians has grown into a vibrant new ministry in the heart of one of Philadelphia’s most challenging neighborhoods.

City Life Philly, founded and pastored by Brad Leach, launched in 2011 with a vision of “loving God, loving people, and proving it.” After seven years as a portable church, City Life Philly found a permanent home in South Philly, one of several distinct neighborhoods that make up the greater Philadelphia area.

In Southwest Philly, an adjacent neighborhood filled with a rich blend of cultures and beliefs, City Life Philly began to take note of high crime rates. The burden for the people of Southwest Philly birthed a dream in the City Life Philly team to plant a church for residents to be able to worship in their own neighborhood. They also desired to create a place where kids, youth, and entire families could find hope and purposeful, comprehensive engagement: The Hope Center.

When Joel Gaines stepped into the role of executive director at The Hope Center, he hadn’t planned on leaving his 25-year career in educational leadership. His dedication had always been to shaping young minds during the school day, but he soon realized that God was redirecting that call towards a different time of day – after school hours.

“It started with a conversation,” recalls Gaines of his initial talk with Leach about the new venture, “and when they initially asked me to serve as the executive director, I laughed and told them ‘No.’”

But after being encouraged by his wife to pray about the opportunity, Gaines began to sense this new role was where God was leading him.

“I found out that most of the crime, especially the shootings, that happen in Southwest Philly are between the hours of 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. – right after the kids get out of school and are unmonitored,” he says. “I realized transformation for the neighborhood could start with The Hope Center.” And with that, Gaines was certain of his next steps.

Since launching in September of this year, The Hope Center has already seen the hand of God at work. In one of its inaugural events, the team organized the community’s first 5K run in partnership with the local high school, Bartram High School. Following the event, participants and spectators had the opportunity to meet some of the community partners that would be key in supporting the success of The Hope Center.

“We had a phenomenal response – no one had done anything like this in Southwest Philly before. People told us how thankful they were that we were bringing hope to this part of the city,” says Gaines.

In the few weeks since the 5K, Gaines also reports that the principal of Bartram told him that this is the first month there has not been a shooting in Southwest Philly since her arrival 19 years ago.

“It comes down to presence. Just our presence in the community is showing hope and shining light. That’s exactly what we want to bring to the community,” he says. “We are children of the light.”

“God loves the underdog neighborhoods of our city,” says Leach. “Through the presence of the Hope Center, we are able to supplement the gospel work of our church with practical resources to transform people's lives. We are seeing precious people with generational challenges experience hope through simple gifts like a mentor or a meal. One life at a time, we can set a new legacy into motion.”

While The Hope Center operates as a separate non-profit organization, it will be housed in the same building as City Life Philly’s new Southwest Philadelphia campus once a permanent location is found. Currently City Life Philly’s Southwest campus, pastored by Darrell Hendricks, is a dinner church that meets at Bartram High School and is an intimate evening experience for residents and families of Southwest.

Gaines says that this is mutually beneficial as the church will spiritually feed people on Sundays and The Hope Center will come alongside them as the holistic ministry arm, meeting the physical and practical needs of the community throughout the rest of the week.

Strategic partnerships have formed with other community organizations to bring programming to The Hope Center, such as a mentoring, coaching, and tutoring program, crisis support for families, programs for young men on “how to be gentlemen”, and even classes that focus on intentional living and faith-driven fitness sessions. Each of these programs support one of the center’s five pillars: Academic Enrichment, Gospel Ministry, Sports and Recreation, Crisis Support, and Nutrition and Health. These pillars, standing on the foundation of Biblical truths and the transformative power of Jesus’ sacrifice, carry the weight of The Hope Center’s vision to see lives changed into testimonies of redemption and grace.