Mayor stresses more inclusive housing policy at new homeowner’s ribbon cutting in North Philly
Marco Cerino TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER – Mar 4, 2025
Nine days before her budget address before City Council, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker highlighted the impact of providing housing for city residents. She also sent a message as to who she wants to help.
Parker and officials gathered to cut a ribbon in North Philadelphia for a Turn the Key participant. Shakeda Gaines went through the program, got certified for home ownership, and bought a property on the 900 Block of Turner Street.
Turn the Key continues to help middle-income city residents achieve home ownership through education, credit counseling, and financial support. Those who qualify are paying around $1,300 monthly in mortgage payments, around $500 less than the city’s current rent median, for a three-bedroom home.
Parker claims she loves coming to these events, saying “I get giddy” for the ribbon-cutting ceremonies. As she prepares to provide more details on her “Mission 30,000” housing initiative next week, she also emphasized a need for more programs that help working Philadelphians who make modest salaries and don’t qualify for most major assistance programs.
“As we develop programs, we cannot simply develop programs for folks who are in deep poverty alone,” she said. “There are so many people who go to work every day, work hard in our city every day, and they too don’t have access to the opportunity to do what I believe all Philadelphians should do able to do, and that is have a safe, affordable, quality, and quite frankly … an aesthetically appealing place in order to live.”
Gaines told those gathered that she didn’t think she could afford to buy a home with high prices and a low credit score. The staffer with Minority Leader Kendra Brooks did go through a city-run workshop and earned her homebuyers’ certificate. She did not complete the Turn the Key application until circumstances changed with her rent situation.
“I was tired of paying crazy rent prices and had gotten frustrated with dealing with my landlord,” she said. “The plans that he had for my home didn’t look and feel like the dreams I had for me and my children. I decided to get serious about home ownership and revisit Turn the Key. In September of 2024, I picked up the process where I left off and I was surprised at how quickly it went.”
Turn the Key has taken properties in the city’s Land Bank, worked with developers to build single-family homes, partnered with lenders for favorable mortgages and assisting with other costs. Income thresholds for participants are 100% of the area median income, which comes to $80,300 for a single occupant and $114,700 for a household of four. The properties also enjoy a tax assessment freeze for the life of the mortgage.
Parker and Brooks both expressed a desire to see more city employees apply for the program. Home ownership is the leading source of multigenerational wealth for communities of color. Angel Rodriguez, executive director of the Philadelphia Land Bank, had a straightforward message for those struggling with the city’s high rents and housing insecurity.
“If you want to save money, buy a home,” he said.
Before the ribbon cutting, Parker sent a message to Council and constituents. After praising those who took risks and invested money in programs like Turn the Key, she claimed her predecessors became experts in “pitting the have-nots against those who have just a little bit.” That mindset made a lot of people who have lived in the city for decades ineligible for support, something she seeks to change. The mayor mentioned that at lower AMI requirements, Gaines would not have qualified for a program that helped the mother of four own a home.
“I would argue to you the way we develop housing policy in the city of Philadelphia in the past, I think it was terrible,” Parker said. “I commit to you that when you listen to people advocate for this issue, don’t look at the 30,000-[foot] view. The devil is in the details. How are you going to build a program? What do the specs and the rules and the regulations, and the eligibility requirements look like? That’s when you see government at its best.”