Mayor Cherelle Parker taps a new Homeless Services leader following the office’s financial turmoil

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has tapped a top executive from one of the city’s premier organizations serving the homeless to take over the city’s Office of Homeless Services, an embattled agency that has been under intense scrutiny for fiscal mismanagement.

Cheryl Hill, who was a senior vice president at Project HOME, started Monday as the new executive director of the office, which is responsible for working with dozens of providers to serve thousands of the city’s most vulnerable residents.

In a statement, Parker said Hill will be responsible for fine-tuning operations, and she lauded Hill’s “deep experience developing and managing programs that help individuals and families.”

“She will lead OHS down a path of focused, improved, fiscally responsible delivery of service to Philadelphia’s most marginalized population,” Parker said.

Hill replaces David Holloman, the executive director who was serving on an interim basis after the former head of the office, Liz Hersh, resigned in November at the end of former Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration. Parker administration officials have said since May that they intended to replace Holloman, who will return to his previous position as chief of staff.

» READ MORE: How Philly’s Office of Homeless Services overspent $15 million: ‘Things got away from everybody’

Parker’s decision to bring in a new leader from outside city government follows revelations of overspending in the office that has led to at least three separate investigations and audits. Late last year, news emerged that the Office of Homeless Services had used questionable accounting practices to pay its bills and overspent its budget by $15 million through four years.

According to investigators and former officials, the office through the pandemic contracted with providers to house people, despite not immediately having the budget to pay them. Officials in some cases delayed paying the nonprofits and firms for months until the next budget was approved and new funding flowed into the office’s accounts.

In announcing Hill’s appointment, Parker administration officials highlighted her background in compliance. At Project HOME, Hill oversaw property operations and residential services, meaning she was responsible for the day-to-day management of the organization’s facilities, including regulatory compliance.