Healthy Housing Symposium
The Healthy Housing Symposium hosted by Penn CPH on October 17th, 2025 convened community leaders, policymakers, researchers, and advocates to examine how housing quality, stability, and affordability shape health outcomes across Philadelphia.
The Symposium aimed to advance the shared truth that housing is health care and to explore actionable strategies that improve housing and health outcomes. The event launched a Healthy Housing Working Group that translated insights into a policy brief – reflecting the Center’s growing seminar series focus on driving policy.
Featured Symposium
Healthy Housing Symposium | October 17th, 2025
The symposium featured a keynote from Sister Mary Scullion, Co-Founder of Project HOME, who called for compassion, urgency, and a reimagined public commitment to safe housing for all. Guest speaker Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke offered powerful reflections on moral leadership and accountability in governance, outlining his continued work on the Safe Healthy Homes legislative package – a set of bills aimed at strengthening tenant protections, ensuring proactive inspections, and providing the resources needed to make safe housing a public priority
Healthy Housing Symposium Speakers
Keynote: Sister Mary Scullion – Co-Founder, Project Home
Guest Speaker: Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke, Minority Whip, Philadelphia City Council
Event Moderator: Dr. Cheryl Bettigole, MD, MPH, Penn Center for Public Health
Opening Remarks: Dr. Richard Wender, MD, Penn Center for Public Health
Healthy Housing Symposium Panelists
Dr. Tyra Bryant-Stephens, MD – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Dr. Vincent Reina, PhD, MBA, MSc – University of Pennsylvania
Ryan Ambrose, MPA – Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation
Devin Race, JD – Community Legal Services
Symposium Recap
A cross-sector panel moderated by CPH Director of Public Health Integration, Dr. Cheryl Bettigole, brought together leaders from CHOP, the University of Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation, and Community Legal Services to explore solutions ranging from asthma prevention and proactive rental inspections to tenant protections and community engagement. Attendees participated in breakout sessions to identify strategies for advancing housing justice and improving health outcomes city-wide.
The momentum continued through the work of a Healthy Housing Working Group, which translated and further developed symposium insights into a policy brief of best practices and recommendations to strengthen housing and health equity across Philadelphia.
We believe safe, decent, and affordable housing is possible for our City and Nation to achieve. Housing is health care. And providing safe housing not only saves lives – it saves money.
Sister Mary Scullion, Keynote Speaker
Co-Founder, Project HOME
