The Women’s Christian Alliance (WCA), a non-sectarian, nonprofit, 501c3 child welfare agency provides services and programs to low income, at-risk children and disadvantaged families that reside in depressed communities of north central Philadelphia.

WCA was established in 1919 by Melissa Thompson Coppin, MD, one of Philadelphia’s first African American female physicians.  The original purpose of WCA was to provide support services to children, women and families migrating to Philadelphia from the rural south.  In 1921, the Juvenile Division of Philadelphia Municipal Court requested WCA to provide services for dependent and neglected children. 
By 1922, WCA was providing shelter, child care, foster care and employment services for hundreds of families.  During its 81 years history, WCA has provided services and programs to more than 100,000 children and families, by implementing a consistent strategy of facilitating community-driven initiatives to meet community needs.

The majority of families served by WCA are headed by single parents living in poverty, substandard housing, and neighborhoods plagued by drugs, crime, domestic violence, unemployment, truancy, teen pregnancy and welfare.  Combined with the effects of this environment are caregivers who lack resources, and parenting education, and possess poor academic and vocational skills. 

WCA’s target population resides in five Philadelphia zip code areas, representing over 200,000 individuals, with nearly 20,000 children between the ages of 1 to 5 years.  Our roster of services and programs reached public school students that attend the Franklin, Gratz, Strawberry Mansion and William Penn clusters.

Recent census demographic analysis of our targeted population presented alarming facts, including:

• 24.07% of 1,000 children test high for lead paint.
  
• 65.41% of children are below 100% of poverty.
• 99.41% of children are 200% below poverty.
• 42.19% of children in 8^th grade read above or age grade level.
• 70.0% of births are to women less than 18

By strengthening our capacity to reach the needy children and families in our community, WCA can help to rebuild community infrastructures and stem the pattern of community erosion and family disintegration that has become embedded in the culture of this inner-city environment.

WCA Programs.  Through Divisions of Family Services, Community Services and Behavioral Health, WCA operates 26 interdisciplinary services and programs:

• Foster Family Care
• Adoption
• SCOH
• Community Family Center, one of two Family Centers not located in a Philadelphia public school.
• Behavioral Health and TSS, including psychiatric/psychological counseling.
• Alliance for Progress Charter School, grades K through 5^th.
• Learning and Development Center, subsidized day care, including a HeadStart program.
• Pennsylvania Parents Resource Information Center, WCA is statewide Lead Agency.

WCA actively collaborates on several levels with the US Department of Education and the US Department of Health and Human Services; the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare; the City of Philadelphia, Department of Human Services and the Philadelphia Board of Education; Temple University School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Administration, and numerous child welfare agencies throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania. 

WCA is a Partner Agency with the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, member of the Child Welfare League and accredited by the Council on Accreditation for Families and Children, Inc.