By CatholicPhilly Staff Report \u2022 Posted April 29, 2026 <\/p>\n
Villanova University students joined Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia on April 18 to launch Pope Leo Village, a multiyear affordable housing initiative in North Philadelphia, during a volunteer build day in Philadelphia\u2019s Brewerytown section.<\/p>\n
The kickoff took place at a home rehabilitation site where students worked alongside Habitat staff and residents. The event included remarks from Habitat leadership and a blessing of the home by Augustinian Father Peter M. Donohue, president of Villanova.<\/p>\n
Pope Leo Village is a national interfaith initiative honoring Pope Leo XIV and his emphasis on social justice and service. Twenty Habitat affiliates are participating nationwide, with plans to provide more than 235 affordable homes.<\/p>\n
In Philadelphia, the effort will focus on the Sharswood and Brewerytown neighborhoods, with 26 homeownership units planned through new construction and rehabilitations.<\/p>\n
\u201cPope Leo Village reflects the heart of Habitat\u2019s mission to bring people together and build safe, affordable homes,\u201d said Corinne O\u2019Connell, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
The initiative is supported by an anonymous donor inspired by Pope Leo XIV\u2019s commitment to justice and service, partnering with Habitat affiliates to expand access to affordable housing. Habitat Philadelphia said additional volunteer events and home dedications are planned in the coming months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By CatholicPhilly Staff Report \u2022 Posted April 29, 2026 Villanova University students joined Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179792,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[80284,4374,69,71,70,80285,2627],"class_list":["post-179791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-augustinians","tag-habitat-for-humanity","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-pope-leo-village","tag-villanova-university"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}