Project Rehab Celebrates 10+ Years of Community Impact

Ten Years of Neighborhood Impact for Project Rehab
Mar 29, 2022 23 months ago

For over ten years, our Project Rehab program, led by Ryan Spak, has been assisting community members with real estate issues ranging from title disputes to code violations to financing for renovations. Originally conceived to help homeowners transform vacant and debilitated properties into neighborhood assets, Project Rehab's services have expanded over the years to include providing aid to non-profit organizations, community groups, and churches.

While some Project Rehab projects come together on a shorter timeline, like instances when Ryan has responded to urgent needs like buildings facing demolition, some other projects take time, dedication, and patience. A recent example of a project requiring patience is 3415 Hamilton Street, pictured on the right before renovations.

Ryan first began working on this property on January 31st, 2012, after being contacted by the Powelton Village Civic Association. They were seeking help with this distressed property, which at the time had been vacant for nearly 20 years. Through hard work and dedication, Ryan eventually worked with the neighborhood to establish a conservatorship for the property in 2019 through ACT 135 (the Abandoned and Blighty Property Conservatorship ACT), which allows residents and property owners to report substandard or abandoned buildings in order to prevent potential risks or hazards. 

Now over 10 years later, the property has been completely renovated into a beautiful 6 bedroom, 5 bathroom house that hit the market on March 15th, 2022. In the end, the time from the start of this project to its completion was nearly as long as Ryan's entire tenure with UCD and Project Rehab. We thank him for his hard work and dedication to our community. 

If you'd like to read more about Ryan's recent work, The Philadelphia Inquirer recently published a story about his impact on the neighborhood, including his efforts to help save the Ethiopian Community Association of Greater Philadelphia headquarters from being demolished. Click here to read the whole story. To read more about Ryan's tenure at UCD, check out this 2017 profile we wrote as part of our 20 Years, 20 Stories series