Brick wall with a placard for the William Way Community Center
(NLGJA / Irene Adeline Milanez)

William Way Community Center in Philadelphia is working toward expanding affordable housing for LGBTQ+ seniors as the city’s queer population ages and the need for essential services and safe spaces grows.

William Way provides health, social and cultural services for the LGBTQ+ community in Philadelphia to over 15,000 visitors annually according to its website

Christ Bartlett, the center’s executive director since 2010, said there is more need than ever for a safe space for LGBTQ+ people and allies to organize and create programs.

“We’re always trying to grow because the need grows,” said Bartlett. 

He said William Way’s services include the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ archives of community history, peer counseling programs and galleries of works by queer artists. Additionally, the center provides 56 units of affordable housing for LGBTQ+ seniors in partnership with the John C. Anderson Apartments.

“We do a lot of work with seniors. We view our LGBT seniors as the folks who created our communities,”  Bartlett said. “So we want to make sure those seniors get the best programs and we work hard to do that.”

To address the growing needs of the Philadelphia LGBTQ+ community, the center is currently in the midst of a “Build the Way” renovation project.

The “Build the Way” project is estimated to cost about $40 million to upgrade, renovate, and preserve the 200-year-old historic center building in order to increase access to the center’s services and resources according to Bartlett.

The project involves demolishing the rear two thirds of the building and constructing a 10-story tower.

“The reason it’s so expensive is that we’re building extra floors to lease out and those leases will pay for the operations of the building for decades to come,”

He said the multi-year leases from nonprofits, government programs and clinics will pay for the operating expenses of the building.

“We do all the social services there, and with what’s called the naturally occurring retirement community in the neighborhood. We provide food for seniors, that’s been a key focus.” said Bartlett.

Along with expanding affordable housing for LGBTQ+ seniors, some of the new facility plans include catering kitchens, library and archival expansions, larger event spaces and increasing rental units in the building.

Construction is projected to start in 2024 and the center will be temporarily closed for up to 2 years.

Tom Wilson Weinberg, a Philadelphia songwriter, performer and community member, said the building is a real home for the local LGBTQ+ community.  

“The building is full of activity. If we can make this happen it’s going to be a lot more room,” Weinberg said. “I think we need it. We deserve it.”