$170 Million and 4,367 Neighbors: Inside Our FY 2025/2026 Impact Report

Every year, we ask ourselves one question: what did this work actually change? This month, we are answering it in full. The Urban League of Greater Philadelphia's FY 2025/2026 Impact Report is here, and it is built as a story in three acts rather than a list of programs.

It is the story of a single year, told the way the year actually happened: in the halls of Harrisburg, in a job fair where more than 500 people came looking for a second chance, on the West Philadelphia site where we broke ground on our future headquarters, and in the lives of neighbors who walked through our doors ready to move forward.

Three acts, one mission

The report is built around the three commitments that guide everything we do:

• Act One: Defend Democracy. How we carried our voice into the halls of government, public statements, policy testimony, civic participation, and the long work of restoring full opportunity after incarceration.

• Act Two: Demand Diversity. Change at the points where access is decided: who can compete, who is hired, who receives capital, who is prepared to lead, and whose needs shape what gets built, including the June 2026 groundbreaking of our permanent headquarters and Center for Wellbeing in West Philadelphia.

• Act Three: Defeat Poverty. The movement from crisis to stability, from stability to choice, and from opportunity to ownership, followed through housing, work, education, entrepreneurship, and capital.

Then a fourth act, The Call, asks what that record requires of us now and looks ahead to the return of The State of Black Greater Philadelphia.

A few numbers, as a preview

We will not spoil the whole thing, but the Year at a Glance alone is worth the read. It adds up to more than $170 million in home purchases, home investment, contracts won, new bonding capacity, financing, and scholarships made possible through our programs and partnerships this year, and 4,367 people, households, completed mediations, and firms served across our region. Behind those totals are a returning citizen who came home in March and held his Class A commercial driver's license by June, a coalition still fighting for fair school funding, and 2,722 families who strengthened their financial readiness.

Numbers tell you what happened. The stories tell you why it matters. The report has both.

Read it, then share it

As Dr. Darrin W. Anderson Sr., our President and CEO, writes in his opening letter, this report is meant to be read "as both evidence and invitation." See what the year achieved. Recognize the participants, staff, volunteers, and partners behind it. Then consider where you fit in the solutions that keep this mission moving forward.

Momentum Newsletter: September 2026 | Issue 9 | Impact