Seniors asked their pastor for help finding affordable homes. So their West Philly church built apartments.

Nearly a decade ago, seniors asked the pastor of their West Philadelphia church for help.

They were getting older and so were their houses, and they needed safe, affordable homes that weren’t such a burden to keep up with. They wanted to stay in their community, too.

In the beginning of this year, on the site of what was once a dilapidated house and vacant lots filled with trash and rodents, the Church of Christian Compassion opened Compassion Senior Living, a new 38-unit subsidized apartment building in Cobbs Creek.

W. Lonnie Herndon, the church’s senior pastor, said the congregation “believe[s] ministry must extend beyond the walls of the church.”

“We’re called not only to preach about love and compassion but to demonstrate it in practical ways that strengthen people’s lives,” he said Tuesday during an event celebrating the building filling with residents.

Philadelphia’s 65-and-older population is growing, and more than a third live below or near the poverty line, according to a 2025 Pew Charitable Trusts report. As housing costs rise, finding an affordable apartment as a senior can be difficult.

Since 2001, the Church of Christian Compassion has owned a 10-unit, market-rate apartment building across from the new development. But the new apartments fill a specific need.

Compassion Senior Living accepts people 62 and older who make between 20% and 60% of the area median income. That’s roughly $17,200 to $51,540 for a single-person household, which most of the building’s residents are. Four apartments are reserved for people who were formerly homeless.

Rents for the complex’s one-bedroom apartments are based on tenants’ income and range from $900 to $1,300.

Evelyn Norris, who declined to give her age but said she is older than she looks, moved into her apartment in early August from another West Philadelphia building. She is a member of the Church of Christian Compassion and called the pastor “a jewel” who “looks out for everybody.”

Norris is thrilled to live in a newly constructed building where residents have formed a tight-knit community. She said everyone’s friendly and keeps an eye on each other.

“This place is wonderful,” she said. “God is all in this.”

More than three in five tenants were already residents of West or Southwest Philadelphia.

That includes Angela Cook-Boyd, also a member of the Church of Christian Compassion, who turns 70 on Sunday. She was tired of climbing the steps at the West Philadelphia house she had been renting and said her legs told her it was time to move to a building for seniors.

She had told the church she was interested in living at the property about five years ago when it was still in the works.

“It was truly worth waiting for,” she said. “It just has been a blessing.”

The independent living community cost about $20 million, with millions coming from city, state, and federal funding.

City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, whose 3rd District includes the apartment building, said one of her first meetings after she was elected in 2020 was with the church’s pastors and now-Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia). They talked about the importance of finding funding for the project.

“It is no secret that Cobbs Creek, like many of our neighborhoods, is being gentrified, and our wisest neighbors are the ones being hit the hardest,” Gauthier said. “Our seniors deserve to stay in the communities they’ve called home for decades, the communities that they’ve built into the desirable places that they are today.”

Compassion Senior Living offers on-site social services and plans to partner with a healthcare provider in the future. The building includes a laundromat, a library, a multipurpose room, and a community center. It has a green roof, low-flow faucets, and energy-efficient heating, cooling, and ventilation systems.

The building was designed by Philadelphia-based CICADA Architecture & Planning and built by Ardmore-based TN Ward Company, Builders. BFW Group, a construction project management agency, led the charge to raise money for the project.

Pastor Terrilynn Donnell, who is also the executive director of the church’s community development corporation, the Community of Compassion CDC, called the completion of the senior apartments “a relief” after so many years. She said the church wants to build more homes.