Councilmember Young calls Parker admin’s move to add drug rehab services at North Philly homeless shelter ‘unacceptable’

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia City Councilmember Jeffrey Young is fighting the Parker administration over adding drug rehab services to a homeless shelter in his North Philadelphia district.

Mayor Cherelle Parker has proposed spending $100 million on what she calls triage and wellness centers to address addiction and related issues — she hasn’t yet specified what services they’d provide.

Young says he fears that plans for the building at 2100 West Girard Avenue will bring as many as 400 people with addiction into the neighborhood. He also says there has been virtually no communication about it from the mayor’s office.

“It is unacceptable to undertake such a significant project without consulting the communities and stakeholders who will be most affected,” he said.
Young introduced legislation at the last council session that would block efforts to provide any medical services at the facility.

The centers are a large part of the mayor’s plan for cleaning up open drug use in Kensington but, as Young put it, no one “wants the Kensington problem coming into their neighborhood.”

The Parker administration says it plans to have discussions with Young about his concerns.