Jamel Harvey, an enrollment coordinator in Medical Affairs, has been reaching out for years to help the homeless, giving them food and money to help sustain them. But he knew that giving money alone is a Band-Aid, not a solution. “I wanted to put them back in society again, make them feel their self-worth, contributing,” he said.
To help him reach this goal, Harvey and his friend, Sarah Lyongs, started Project Reborn USA, a grassroots community organization. “Most times, these people don’t have any support system,” he said. “They’re fending for themselves. They just need someone to listen and to steer them in the right direction.”
His first success story was John, who was “originally panhandling and would keep coming back for money.” Harvey gave him names of organizations to help him get on his feet but then didn’t see him for a while. The next encounter showed why.
“John had a stand, selling apples and other fruit,” Harvey said. “He told me, ‘Once I get myself together, I’m going to help you!’”
Helping others is nothing new for Harvey. He’s been involved with many charitable organizations over the years, including fundraising for the United Negro College Fund, for which he earned a plaque of recognition, and collecting over 1,000 pounds of food for the Central PA Food Bank. He also recently sent eight huge garbage bags filled with gently used and new clothing to family shelters throughout the city.
“I’ve been in situations where I needed help from others and received it,” he said. “Now I’m in a place where I’m able to give back.” He’s also currently working on holding a winter coat drive for single-parent households. “Winter coats are expensive. I understand the struggle.”
He’ll use his Penn Medicine CAREs grant to put together care bags filled with water, toiletries, toothbrush and toothpaste, socks and snacks, and hand them out to the homeless. He handed out over 150 bags between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve. He also brings in two to three bags each day to hand out on his way to work. But that’s just the first phase of his organization’s goals. Eventually he’d like to get a plot of land and, working with construction companies, build tiny houses for people to initially rent and then purchase.
“I’d like to partner with other ‘second chance’ organizations to form a community of resources,” he said, for example, a place to sleep or get clean clothes to wear. “It just takes one spark of light to illuminate a whole city.”