BUILDING TOWARD THE NEXT 50 YEARS

A MAJOR GIFTS INITIATIVE TO STRENGTHEN BETHESDA PROJECT’S FUTURE

For nearly 50 years, Bethesda Project has stood beside people experiencing homelessness in Philadelphia.

Our work has evolved over time, but the belief at the heart of it has remained constant: every person deserves to be treated with dignity, known by name, and supported with compassion and respect.

I have had the privilege of being part of this mission for two decades. During that time, I have seen what becomes possible when someone has a safe place to rest, a trusted person to turn to, and the steady support needed to begin again. I have also learned that lasting change rarely happens in a single moment. It grows through relationships, consistency, and the patient work of helping each person move toward greater stability.

Today, Bethesda Project is preparing for its next chapter from a position of strength. An extraordinary anonymous donor has made a transformational $1 million leadership gift to our future. This gift is more than a generous contribution. It is a powerful vote of confidence in our mission, our people, and the direction we are heading.

Inspired by that belief, we are launching a Major Gifts Initiative to raise an additional $2 million to help build toward the next 50 years of Bethesda Project.

This campaign will strengthen the programs and services that meet people where they are. It will support the exceptional staff members whose expertise and care make trusted relationships possible. It will help preserve safe, welcoming, and dignified environments. And it will build the financial strength Bethesda Project needs to plan thoughtfully, respond strategically, and remain a steady presence in Philadelphia for generations to come.

Bethesda Project has spent nearly five decades learning, adapting, and walking alongside people whose lives have been shaped by homelessness. We know that housing matters. We also know that housing alone is not enough. Stability grows when people are seen, heard, supported, and connected to the resources and relationships that help them reclaim their lives.

Bethesda Project’s nearly 50-year history has shown what is possible when people choose to believe in one another. The next 50 years will depend on those who are willing to carry that belief forward.

I invite you to join us.

Your investment will do more than support an organization. It will help Bethesda Project remain a trusted partner to people experiencing homelessness, to Philadelphia, and to all who make this work possible.

Together, we can build a future in which more people have a safe place to call home, the dignity they deserve, and the support they need to keep moving forward.

With gratitude,

From our CEO

Tina Pagotto
Chief Executive Officer

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Our Major Gifts Initiative

  • For nearly 50 years, Bethesda Project has walked alongside people experiencing homelessness in Philadelphia. What began in 1979 as a small act of compassion grew into an enduring commitment: to know people by name, to meet them where they are, and to help each person move toward greater stability with dignity and respect.

    That commitment has always extended beyond meeting immediate needs. Over the decades, Bethesda Project has seen that lasting stability is built through trust, consistency, and relationships. A safe place to stay is essential, and just as important is having someone who listens, follows through, and remains present as each person works toward what comes next. This is how Bethesda Project carries forward its founding mission: to find and care for those who have been abandoned, and to be family with those who have none.

    This major gifts initiative builds on a transformative seven-figure donation from an anonymous contributor. It is an invitation to keep the momentum and build on what works. The additional $2 million raised by this initiative will strengthen the programs, people, places, and financial foundation that make long-term impact possible. It will help Bethesda Project serve Philadelphians experiencing homelessness today while preparing the organization to remain a trusted, steady presence for generations to come.

  • Homelessness is one of Philadelphia's most visible and deeply human challenges. It is also one of the most complex. People arrive at homelessness by many paths — the loss of income, an unaffordable rent increase, a health crisis, family conflict, mental health challenges, substance use disorders, incarceration, the loss of a caregiver or support network, or the cumulative weight of hardship over time. Individual challenges are compounded by Philadelphia’s severe shortage of affordable housing and by barriers tied to race, class, and access to adequate healthcare.  

    No single program or organization can erase that complexity. No single intervention works for everyone. What does make a difference is consistent, individualized support that recognizes each person's circumstances, strengths, and goals.

    The City’s 2026 Point-in-Time Count reported 5,163 individuals experienced homelessness, including 711 people living unsheltered in places not meant for human habitation. These numbers underscore the urgent need for a strong continuum of care. 

    Bethesda Project's work begins with a simple conviction: homelessness should never make someone invisible. Every person deserves to be seen, heard, and supported. Every person deserves safety. Every person deserves the opportunity to move forward.

    That belief has practical consequences. It means meeting people where they are. It means recognizing that housing is essential, but housing alone is not enough. It means helping someone reconnect with healthcare, income, community, purpose, and hope.

  • Bethesda Project's nearly 50-year history has created something no short-term initiative can replicate — deep experience. The organization has grown, adapted, and learned alongside the people it serves. Through emergency shelter, permanent supportive housing, case management, and individualized care, Bethesda Project has developed a grounded understanding of what helps people regain stability. The lesson is both simple and profound. Lasting change begins with trust.

    Trust is built slowly. It grows when a staff member remembers someone's name, when a guest knows there will be a welcoming place to return to, or when a resident is treated as a person with choices, history, and potential, rather than as a problem to be solved.

    This relationship-based approach is not an add-on to Bethesda Project's services. It is the foundation, turning shelter into sanctuary, housing into home, and assistance into a path forward.

  • The anonymous $1 million leadership gift that inspired this initiative is a powerful affirmation of Bethesda Project's direction. It reflects confidence not only in what the organization has accomplished, but in what it is prepared to become.

    Leadership gifts matter because they create more than financial capacity. They create momentum. They tell others that this mission is worthy of serious investment. They make it possible to think beyond the immediate need and toward the organization Bethesda Project must be for the future.

    This initiative extends that invitation. It asks donors, companies, foundations, and community partners to join a moment of possibility and help turn a single act of belief into lasting organizational strength.

Proof Through People

  • Ronald, known as “Cowboy,” came to Bethesda Project after moving through shelters and living with the stress and uncertainty of homelessness. At Bethesda Oxford — an emergency shelter serving adults age 60 and older with serious health vulnerabilities — he found a private room, consistent support, and staff members he came to trust. Over time, that trust helped him prepare for permanent independent housing and the opportunity to rebuild. "I love it here. I have my own safe space where I can read and relax. The staff here have really changed my life," Ronald reflected.

  • Rodney spent three-and-a-half years experiencing homelessness after losing his home following his mother's death. Through Bethesda Project's church shelter at Trinity Memorial, he found a place to sleep, meals, showers, laundry, case management, and, eventually, supportive housing. He later found employment with Bethesda Project, continued volunteering at his church, began saving for the future, and started building a life that once felt out of reach. "Life is better now that I'm not sleeping in a park," Rodney said. "Kindness goes a long way."

  • At 74, Sharon never imagined she would be searching for a place to call home. For most of her life, she lived independently, but as her health situation grew more complex, she realized she needed more support than she could manage on her own. Recognizing her family arrangement wasn’t sustainable, Sharon moved through shelters for nearly a year. Then she arrived at Bethesda Oxford — where she had a door she could close, a space of her own, and a place where her medical needs were understood. With support from staff, she moved toward permanent housing that could meet her long-term needs.

 Building Toward the Next 50 Years: Where Your Investment Will Make the Greatest Difference

This initiative is rooted in four connected priorities. Each addresses a different part of the organization, but together they create the foundation Bethesda Project needs to serve people well, remain resilient, and grow thoughtfully.

Programs and Services

Protect and strengthen the housing, shelter, case management, and supportive services that help people move toward stability.

  • Bethesda Project's mission is expressed every day through housing, shelter, case management, and supportive services. These programs provide more than immediate relief. They create the consistency and individualized support people need to rebuild stability.

    Philanthropic investment provides the flexibility to sustain quality, respond to changing needs, and support the aspects of care that public funding does not always cover. It allows Bethesda Project to remain focused on what each person needs, not simply on what a contract permits.


Safe and Dignified Environments

  • A building is never just a building. For someone who has spent months or years without a secure place to rest, a clean room, a working shower, a safe entrance, and a welcoming common space can restore a sense of dignity and possibility.

    Investment through this initiative will help Bethesda Project preserve critical facilities, modernize essential systems, improve safety, and protect the physical assets that make mission delivery possible. These are investments in the settings where trust, healing, and stability take root.

Preserve and improve the places where people rest, heal, build trust, and begin again.

Exceptional People

Attract, develop, and retain the staff members whose expertise and care make lasting relationships possible.

  • Every transformation begins with a trusted relationship. Bethesda Project's staff members bring skill, patience, judgment, and humanity to some of the most complex work in the city.

    This initiative will help Bethesda Project attract, develop, and retain exceptional talent, and invest in employee well-being, competitive compensation, leadership development, and the professional capacity needed for the future. Investing in people is investing in the quality, continuity, and reach of the mission.

Financial Strength

Build the flexibility and resilience needed to plan for the long term, respond strategically, and seize opportunities.

  • Long-term impact requires more than strong programs. It requires an organization with the financial resilience to plan ahead, manage uncertainty, and act on opportunity.

    A stronger balance sheet and a more robust working capital reserve, known as The Domenic Fund, will help Bethesda Project protect mission delivery, make thoughtful long-range decisions, and respond strategically rather than reactively. This is not money set aside from the mission. It is what helps ensure the mission can endure.

Why This Moment Matters

Bethesda Project is approaching a milestone few organizations reach: nearly half a century of continuous service. This initiative presents an opportunity to draw on decades of experience to build what comes next.

The need for trusted, relationship-based support remains urgent. The cost and complexity of delivering that support continue to grow. At the same time, Bethesda Project has a clear strategic direction, experienced leadership, committed partners, and extraordinary philanthropic momentum.

This is a moment to invest with intention, strengthen our foundation, build capacity before opportunity passes, and — above all — ensure that Bethesda Project's next half-century of service is defined not by endurance alone, but by deeper impact.

An Invitation to Lead, Partner, or Participate

Our major gifts initiative offers different ways to be part of one shared future:

  • Leadership donors can make catalytic investments that shape Bethesda Project for decades. 

  • Corporate and institutional partners can help build a stronger Philadelphia through sustained collaboration. 

  • Community supporters can join a broad movement of people who believe that dignity, stability, and hope should be within reach for everyone.

Every gift adds strength. Every partnership expands possibility. Every person who chooses to stand with Bethesda Project helps carry the mission forward.

Together, we can build a future in which more people have a safe place to call home, the dignity they deserve, and the support they need to keep moving forward.

If you are interested in getting involved or have questions,
please reach out to Emma Stern, Chief Development Officer, at estern@bethesdaproject.org

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