Mayors first shot at rehab centers hits Council opposition [Video]

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Mayor Cherelle Parker hopes to open locations citywide where people in addiction can access city services. She calls them triage or wellness centers, but reaction to her first attempt shows they may not be welcome everywhere.

Philadelphia leases the building at 2100 Girard Avenue from the state. It was being used as a homeless shelter but, without any public notice, the Parker administration added drug rehabilitation services.

Neighbors soon noticed, says Tim Butters, president of the Fairmount Civic Association.

“Since the facility has been expanded to include increased services, we’ve had reports of increased drug use, increased drug paraphernalia and trash, needles, baggies, drug overdoses,” Butters said Wednesday at a City Council hearing.

He testified in support of a bill, sponsored by Councilmember Jeffrey Young, that would prohibit the city from continuing to lease the building. Young has called Parker’s more “unacceptable.”

“As a neighborhood, we sort of felt blind-sided by this,” said Zoe Sanderson, …