Rebuild Hope for Nicole and Her Girls

I am Phillip Steward and I'm working with URDC to raise funds for a dear friend, Nicole Lancaster, who had a neighbor's fire cause catastrophic damage to her home in 2023. She is a single mother of 4 girls and they have been displaced while trying to find a way to get back into their family home. For over 18 months, Nicole has been searching for assistance to repair the roof, upstairs bedrooms, kitchen, foyer, and living room to bring her children back together and we want to help.

Nicole was connected to the Urban Resource Development Corporation (URDC), a non-profit housing corporation managed by 13 interdenominational congregations that help low-income families pay for repairs to their homes in Germantown and other northwest Philadelphia communities. Although her repair is larger than most of URDC's work, Nicole's compelling story and determination caught the eye of the URDC Board and we are all involved in doing whatever we can to make this beautiful family whole.

URDC's contractors estimate it will cost $112,00 to completely rebuild Nicole's home but with $80,000, we can do enough so she and her children can move back in and begin living a normal life again. It will cover the following areas of repair: debris removal, wall/roof demolition, electrical repairs, plumbing repairs, shoring up the structure, cosmetic updates including paint/cleanup, and professional contractors to bring it all together.

URDC has already secured approx. $30,000 in donated skilled labor as well as other coordinated efforts and planning to get Nicole back into her home. We are seeking additional assistance from other organizations and the city of Philadelphia and expect to raise another $10,000. That is halfway to getting Nicole home!

The work on Nicole's Limekiln Drive home begins this month (May 2025). As we continue to make progress, we anticipate it will take up to 6 months to complete. We are asking friends, supporters, good-hearted people, and those who can give to donate to help Nicole and her children.