RHD Morris Home, pioneering recovery program serving transgender community, seeks new location in Philadelphia
July 24, 2018
RHD announces relocation campaign to support expanding services through the move, while growing Morris Home in a safe and welcoming new environment
RHD Morris Home, the first residential recovery program in the country to offer comprehensive services specifically for trans- and gender non-conforming individuals, is moving to a new location in order to expand services in response to a growing need in Philadelphia.
In addition, after recent incidents at the program’s current location in Southwest Philadelphia – including an explosive device detonated on RHD Morris Home’s front porch June 23 – many Morris Home participants have expressed increasing concerns for their safety. A move to address the much-needed growth of RHD Morris Home will also address those concerns.
RHD Morris Home is a residential drug and alcohol treatment program serving the transgender community located in southwest Philadelphia, and is the only program of its kind in the country. RHD founded RHD Morris Home in 2011.
Backstage Pass with Cameron Esposito
Special thanks to the amazing and hilarious Cameron Esposito for hosting RHD Morris Home at her show in Philadelphia, and for her commitment to LGBTQ causes that make a difference in the community. Cameron invited Morris Home staff onstage at the Philadelphia stop of her national tour to talk about the Morris Home Relocation Campaign and Morris Home’s essential services for the transgender community.
“RHD is working with our partners in the city and the local police to ensure the security at the program, staff and clients have returned to RHD Morris Home, and the program is operating at full capacity,” said RHD CEO Marco Giordano. “Still the safety and wellbeing of the people we are privileged to support and employ is of course our primary concern. We believe a move to a new location will not only allow us to grow Morris Home to meet growing needs in the community, but will provide a new opportunity to achieve a sense of safety that living and working in a more welcoming environment provides.”
Giordano announced that RHD is launching a relocation campaign to help support RHD Morris Home’s move to a new and bigger location in Philadelphia.
“We are extraordinarily grateful to the many people who have come forward with expressions of love and support during this time,” Morris Home director Laura Sorenson said. “To those who expressed goodwill and offered assistance, we heard you. Thank you. We look forward to continuing to live, work and serve in our community, and our commitment and dedication to that effort will not waver.
“RHD Morris Home is the only inpatient rehab specifically for the trans community, and now more than ever it’s important that people have a space they can define as their own and know that they are safe.”
Morris Home is named for Nizah Morris, a Philadelphia transgender woman who was murdered in 2002. The program has become an active part of the LGBTQ community.
“RHD is committed to our program, our staff, and the people we are proud to support,” Giordano said. “We are resolute in working every day in programs around the country to help build healthy, thriving and inclusive communities where people are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. We are grateful for the support of the many people who have embraced Morris Home and its mission, and we look forward to seeing Morris Home grow, flourish and serve more people through the success of this relocation campaign.”