Full Name
Mary Scullion
Position Title
Executive Director
Organization/Affiliation (full name)
Project Home
Speaker Bio
Sister Mary Scullion has been involved in service work and advocacy for homeless and mentally ill persons since 1978. She was a co-founder, in 1985, of Woman of Hope, which provides permanent residential and support services for homeless, mentally ill women. In 1988, she founded the first Outreach Coordination Center in the nation, an innovative program coordinating private and public agencies doing outreach to chronically homeless persons living on the street.
In 1989, Sister Mary and Joan Dawson McConnon co-founded Project HOME, a nationally recognized organization that provides supportive housing, employment, education and health care to enable chronically homeless and low-income persons to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty. Under their leadership, Project HOME has grown from an emergency winter shelter to nearly 1000 units of housing and two businesses that provide employment to formerly homeless persons. Project HOME also prevents homelessness in a low-income neighborhood in North Philadelphia. This initiative includes economic development, homeownership for the working poor, and the Honickman Learning Center Comcast Technology Labs – a 38,000 square foot, state-of-the-art technology center that offers comprehensive educational and occupational programming.
In 2015 Project HOME opened the Stephen Klein Wellness Center. The Stephen Klein Wellness Center is a model for integrated health care including primary care, behavioral health, dental, a YMCA, pharmacy and wellness services. It serves those that are homeless and is located in the second poorest zip code in Philadelphia.
Sister Mary is also a powerful voice on political issues affecting homelessness and mentally ill persons. Her advocacy efforts resulted in the right of homeless persons to vote as well as a landmark federal court decision that affects the fair housing rights of persons with disabilities.
Sister Mary has received numerous honorary doctorates for her leadership including Georgetown University and University of Pennsylvania. She was selected by Time Magazine as one of the “World’s Most Influential People in 2009”. In addition, Sister Mary and Joan Dawson McConnon received the Laetare Medal from the University of Notre Dame. She was awarded the Eisenhower Fellowship in 2002.
Sister Mary serves on the Board of the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation. She also chaired the Hunger and Homelessness Committee for Pope Francis’s visit to Philadelphia in 2015.
Since the beginning of ProjectHOME, Sister Mary recognized the need for healthcare and opened a free healthcare clinic in 1998 to serve people experiencing homelessness and residents of the poorest zip codes of Philadelphia. Sister Mary worked with healthcare leaders in the city to establish an FQHC which ProjectHOME was awarded in 2013. Now, the FQHC operates at the Hub of Hope, Housing First, and the Stephen Kline Wellness Center.
In 1989, Sister Mary and Joan Dawson McConnon co-founded Project HOME, a nationally recognized organization that provides supportive housing, employment, education and health care to enable chronically homeless and low-income persons to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty. Under their leadership, Project HOME has grown from an emergency winter shelter to nearly 1000 units of housing and two businesses that provide employment to formerly homeless persons. Project HOME also prevents homelessness in a low-income neighborhood in North Philadelphia. This initiative includes economic development, homeownership for the working poor, and the Honickman Learning Center Comcast Technology Labs – a 38,000 square foot, state-of-the-art technology center that offers comprehensive educational and occupational programming.
In 2015 Project HOME opened the Stephen Klein Wellness Center. The Stephen Klein Wellness Center is a model for integrated health care including primary care, behavioral health, dental, a YMCA, pharmacy and wellness services. It serves those that are homeless and is located in the second poorest zip code in Philadelphia.
Sister Mary is also a powerful voice on political issues affecting homelessness and mentally ill persons. Her advocacy efforts resulted in the right of homeless persons to vote as well as a landmark federal court decision that affects the fair housing rights of persons with disabilities.
Sister Mary has received numerous honorary doctorates for her leadership including Georgetown University and University of Pennsylvania. She was selected by Time Magazine as one of the “World’s Most Influential People in 2009”. In addition, Sister Mary and Joan Dawson McConnon received the Laetare Medal from the University of Notre Dame. She was awarded the Eisenhower Fellowship in 2002.
Sister Mary serves on the Board of the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation. She also chaired the Hunger and Homelessness Committee for Pope Francis’s visit to Philadelphia in 2015.
Since the beginning of ProjectHOME, Sister Mary recognized the need for healthcare and opened a free healthcare clinic in 1998 to serve people experiencing homelessness and residents of the poorest zip codes of Philadelphia. Sister Mary worked with healthcare leaders in the city to establish an FQHC which ProjectHOME was awarded in 2013. Now, the FQHC operates at the Hub of Hope, Housing First, and the Stephen Kline Wellness Center.
Speaking At
