The new head of Philly’s Project HOME brings a lived experience of housing insecurity

When Estelle Richman, chair of Project HOME’s board of trustees, spoke of the agency’s new CEO, Donna Bullock, she said, “She possesses a unique combination of professional and personal experiences that will position her well for success.”

That was an understatement.

From her birth In New Brunswick, N.J., on Oct. 15, 1978, Bullock’s childhood was a checklist of poverty-related insecurities, including living without a stable dwelling. These challenges, along with her professional experiences as a state representative and as a Community Legal Services attorney before that, will guide her view regarding holistic solutions to homelessness.

With Project HOME cofounders Sister Mary Scullion exiting at the end of December and Joan Dawson McConnon having left in July, the agency is beginning to usher in the Bullock era. Bullock talked with The Inquirer about her childhood housing insecurity. This interview was lightly edited for clarity.

» READ MORE: Philadelphia’s Donna Bullock will replace Sister Mary Scullion as Project HOME’s leader

We lost our apartment when my father was incarcerated and had to move in with my grandparents. I might have been about 6 or so, and, not shortly thereafter, my grandfather passed away. Our housing situation became very challenging at that point because where we were living my grandfather was a building supervisor, and we were in the unit associated with his job. It was, “Where’s next?” Because for my mom and my grandmother, the men who provided for them were no longer around. My grandmother was able to secure senior housing.

That led to my mom and I having to find housing. She cared for someone, like a home health aide, and I don’t really know the circumstances, but we were living in the living room. And through a series of other circumstances, that person passed away, and we continued to live in the apartment. There was a major hurricane, I think it was Hurricane Floyd, and that moved us up in the line for a Section 8 voucher.

But even still, from year to year, my mom would move. Looking back as an adult, I realized a lot of that was her creative and resourceful way of avoiding eviction, avoiding losing her Section 8 voucher, avoiding a utility bill that had become too high to manage, and starting over in a new unit.

But she was always able to save the Section 8 voucher, which was like gold. If she had lost that because of an eviction on her record, it would be problematic.

For me, I didn’t realize some of the challenges my mom had until my grandmother passed. And then a lot of [her care] was on me.

At some point in college I had a conversation with a dean where I was really struggling with whether or not I should stay in college because my mom needed more help. The dean said, “Well, what happens if you leave? What would be any different other than possibly you not finishing your degree and you not being as helpful as you possibly can? You have to see this through. If your mom figured it out before you were born, she’s an adult she’ll figure it out [now].” It was the hardest decision for me to stay.

I still agree with it, although it did mean a significant setback for her. So by the time I get to mid-law school, my mom finally loses the Section 8 voucher. That put her onto the street. The first year, the county paid for her to be in a hotel space for a while, and she rented a room, but the conditions weren’t great.

[After graduating from Temple Law], I moved her to Philly. She’s been here 16 years now. She doesn’t have much. I make sure she has her basic needs and she lives independently, but she’s comfortable.

At the statehouse, I remember issues coming up and wanting to share my experience in my advocacy around certain issues, [but] I didn’t want to always be the one to stand up and say, “Well, I had the mom that had mental health issues.” Or, “I experienced housing insecurity.” Or, “I was food insecure.” And they would say, “Ugh — there she is again.”

With homelessness, you’re really talking about housing affordability at end of the day. And then we’re talking about who has access to the very limited supply of affordable housing, and usually it requires a lot of navigating.

It requires being resourceful and hopefully not having to deal with some other challenges that many families are dealing with: wellness, behavioral health, mental health, substance-use disorder, if you have a criminal record — all of these other things create more challenges to being able to have access to housing.

The more challenges you bring to that navigation, the more difficult it’s going to be for you to find that one unit that you want. There’s simply not enough units. We need to build more affordable units and then supportive affordable units for individuals like my mom and others who need supports to stay housed.

An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect timeline for Joan Dawson McConnon’s departure from Project HOME.