When You or a Neighbor Needs Help in Philadelphia
Medically Reviewed
The numbers worth saving in your phone: 911 for a life-threatening emergency, 988 for a mental health crisis, 311 for city services and to find a cooling center, and 211 (or text your zip to 898-211) for free help with food, housing, and bills. The 24/7 Homeless Outreach Hotline is 215-232-1984. The summer Heatline, staffed by nurses, is 215-765-9040. For a home that is unsafe in heat or cold, PHDC runs free Basic Systems Repair (215-448-2160) and Weatherization Assistance. For utility bills, LIHEAP covers heating and the Water Department's TAP caps your water bill by income.
Philadelphia weather swings hard. A July heat wave that sits over the row homes for 4 days straight. A January Code Blue when the wind comes off the Delaware and does not let up. For a lot of us, that is an inconvenience and a higher electric bill. For a neighbor with heart failure and an AC unit that died, a parent on a fixed income choosing between the gas bill and groceries, or someone sleeping outside, the same weather is a medical emergency.
Whether the person who needs help is you, a parent, a tenant, an employee, or someone you passed on the sidewalk, this is who to call in Philadelphia and what each program actually does. Most of these are free, and most of them help more people than assume they qualify.
Who to call
The right number saves time when time is the thing you do not have.
- 911 - a life-threatening emergency. Chest pain, trouble breathing, stroke signs (face drooping, arm weakness, slurred speech), heat stroke (confusion, hot skin, often no sweating), or a person outside who is unconscious or cannot be woken.
- 988 - the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Call or text, 24/7, for a mental health or substance-use crisis, yours or someone else's.
- 311 - non-emergency city services and information. Use it to find the nearest cooling center, report a problem, or ask what is open during a weather emergency. The contact center answers calls 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 311 online works anytime.
- 211 - free, confidential, 24/7. Dial 211 or text your zip code to 898-211 to get connected to help with food, housing, utility bills, childcare, and more, in over 180 languages. It covers Philadelphia and the surrounding counties.
- Homeless Outreach Hotline: 215-232-1984 (toll-free 1-877-222-1984) - 24/7. Call if you see someone living outside who needs shelter, food, or medical attention. The city's street outreach team, run by Project HOME, goes to them.
- Heatline: 215-765-9040 - open during hot spells. A nurse will talk through a heat-related worry and tell you whether it needs a visit or a 911 call.
Heat and cooling centers
When the Department of Public Health declares a heat health emergency, the city opens cooling centers and keeps some pools and spraygrounds open later. To find the nearest one, call 311 or ask the Heatline at 215-765-9040, where nurses answer heat-related medical questions during hot stretches. You do not have to be low-income or unhoused to walk into a cooling center. Anyone overheating can use one.
Heat is not evenly dangerous. The people who end up in the hospital are older adults, people with heart or lung disease, infants, outdoor workers, and people whose homes hold heat with no working AC. One piece most people miss: several common medications change how your body handles heat. Diuretics pull off fluid, some blood pressure medications blunt the heart-rate response, and certain psychiatric medications interfere with sweating. If you or someone you care for takes these, treat a hot day as one notch more serious than the thermometer suggests.
On a bad-air-and-heat week, the two stack. For the tier-by-tier version of what to do as the temperature climbs, see the severe weather guide. If your summer runs through the shore, the Jersey Shore heat and sun guide covers the water-and-sun version of the same risks.
Cold and warming centers
In winter, the Office of Homeless Services declares a Code Blue when the forecast calls for precipitation with a temperature of 32°F or below, or a wind chill of 20°F or below. During a Code Blue, warming centers open at neighborhood recreation centers and Free Library branches. They are free and open to anyone, including people who simply lost heat or power at home, and many have water, snacks, blankets, and an on-site nurse.
To report someone outside who needs to come in from the cold, call the Homeless Outreach Hotline at 215-232-1984. If the person is in immediate danger, unresponsive, or cannot be woken, call 911 first.
Cold is a cardiovascular stressor, not just a comfort problem. Blood pressure rises in the cold, and heart attacks and strokes tick up during cold snaps. Older adults can drift into dangerous hypothermia indoors when the heat is off, sometimes without the shivering you would expect. A house you cannot afford to heat is a medical risk, which is why the utility and repair help below belongs on a doctor's site. For the storm-by-storm version, see the severe weather guide and the Philadelphia winter storm kit.
When someone is outside and at risk
If you pass someone living on the street who looks unwell, cold, or in trouble, you can do something useful in 2 minutes. Call the Homeless Outreach Hotline at 215-232-1984, 24/7. Give the location and what you are seeing. The city's outreach team, run by Project HOME, is dispatched to check on the person, offer shelter, food, and connection to services, and get medical help if it is needed.
This is help, not enforcement. The outreach worker's job is to build trust and offer a way indoors, not to move someone along. During a Code Blue in winter or a Code Red in summer, the response ramps up and outreach runs more often. The one exception where you skip the hotline: if the person is unconscious, having a medical emergency, or in immediate danger, call 911.
Help with utility bills
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Rationing heat or letting a shutoff happen is one of the ways people get sick that nobody sees coming. These programs exist to prevent that, and the income limits are more generous than most people guess.
- Heating (LIHEAP). A cash grant paid straight to your utility or fuel provider, plus crisis grants if you are about to lose heat. Apply online through COMPASS (compass.state.pa.us) or by paper application, generally if your household income is at or below 150% of the federal poverty level. The LIHEAP hotline is 1-866-857-7095.
- Electric (PECO). PECO offers LIHEAP help and its own assistance programs for income-eligible customers. Call 1-800-344-3574 to ask what you qualify for.
- Gas (PGW). The Customer Responsibility Program sets a lower monthly payment based on income, and hardship grants can help with a past-due balance.
- Water (Philadelphia Water Department). The Tiered Assistance Program (TAP) caps your water bill at a small percentage of household income, no matter how much water you use, and forgives old debt as you keep up with the lower bill. Apply at cap.phila.gov/tap or call 215-685-6300.
If you are not sure where to start, 211 will walk you through which of these fits your situation.
Home repair and weatherization
A home that holds its temperature is preventive medicine. It keeps an older adult out of dangerous heat and cold, keeps asthma-driving mold and drafts down, and lowers the bills that force impossible choices. The Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation (PHDC) runs several programs for owner-occupied homes, most of them free to those who qualify.
- Basic Systems Repair Program (BSRP). Free emergency repairs to a home's electrical, plumbing, heating, and roofing systems. Call 215-448-2160. This is the one for a broken heater in January or unsafe wiring.
- Weatherization Assistance Program. Free insulation, air sealing, and efficiency work that lowers energy bills and makes the home safer in both heat waves and cold snaps.
- Restore, Repair, Renew. Low-interest home-improvement loans (roughly $2,500 to $50,000 at a fixed 3%) for larger health-and-safety repairs, for owners who can carry a modest payment.
- Adaptive Modifications Program. Ramps, grab bars, and other changes that let someone with a disability stay safe at home.
Renters are not on their own here either. Repairs are usually the landlord's responsibility, and 211 and the city can point you to tenant resources if a landlord will not act on an unsafe condition.
Emergency alerts
The fastest way to know a heat health emergency, Code Blue, flash flood, or air-quality alert is happening: sign up for ReadyPhiladelphia. Text ReadyPhila to 888-777, or register at phila.gov/ready, where you can add up to 5 addresses (home, a parent's place, work, a kid's school) and pick your language. When an alert fires, our own live Philadelphia health signals point you to the exact "what to do" section for that day's condition.
Key Takeaways
- Save four numbers now: 911 (emergency), 988 (crisis), 311 (city services and cooling centers), and 211 (help with food, housing, and bills).
- The Homeless Outreach Hotline, 215-232-1984, is 24/7. Use it for anyone outside who needs help; use 911 if they are in immediate danger.
- Cooling centers, the summer Heatline (215-765-9040), and winter Code Blue warming centers are free and open to anyone, not only to people experiencing homelessness.
- Common medications (diuretics, some blood pressure and psychiatric medicines) raise heat risk. Treat hot days as one notch more serious if you take them.
- Utility help is broader than most assume: LIHEAP for heating, TAP for water, and assistance programs at PECO and PGW.
- A safe home is preventive care. PHDC offers free Basic Systems Repair (215-448-2160) and Weatherization for owner-occupied homes.
Sources and official pages
These are the official pages behind every number above. This is the one place we send you out to them directly, so you always land on the current details.
- City of Philadelphia - Heat health emergency and the Extreme heat guide
- City of Philadelphia - Code Blue
- Office of Homeless Services and Project HOME Outreach Coordination Center
- PA 211 - Southeast
- Pennsylvania LIHEAP and COMPASS
- Philadelphia Water Department - Tiered Assistance Program
- Basic Systems Repair Program and Restore, Repair, Renew
- ReadyPhiladelphia
Programs, phone numbers, and eligibility change over time, and each program sets its own rules. Confirm the current details with the city or program directly, and in a medical emergency call 911 first.
Related at Fishtown Medicine
- Severe weather: what to do - heat, cold, and storms by alert tier
- Air quality (AQI): what to do - what to do as the air changes
- Hydration and electrolytes - the hot-weather essentials
- Environment: the silent third party - how your surroundings shape your health
- Philadelphia environmental health - water, lead, PFAS, and the indoor-air stack
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