The structure of the house is not so much imposed as shaped or opened according to the abiding concerns which its members have. Like an individual, a household evolves a way, a style.
ROBIN COOPER
Since creating a therapeutic community at Kingsley Hall in 1965, the Philadelphia Association has run more than twenty community houses which have offered asylum and hospitality to people in distress. This work continues at two houses in North London.
The experience of fifty years has shown that personal crises and seemingly inescapable unhappiness may for many people be transformed in households like these. They are places where people can come together to address their difficulties in a situation of shared everyday living.
THE TWO HOUSES
The Grove is situated in Haringey, close to Finsbury Park. It has been open since 1973 and has space for five people.
Freegrove house, a large terraced property in Islington, opened in 1996 and can accommodate seven people.
People who choose to live in a PA house are expected to attend three weekly house meetings and be in individual psychotherapy.
How long people stay depends on individual circumstances.
For further information please contact office@philadelphia-association.org.uk.
You will be put in touch with house therapist who will explain the process of application.
Despite the longevity and the radically different nature of the project, surprisingly little has been written about the work. This book is an attempt to correct that.
It is in part a history of the houses as well as an account on how the houses work today and an exploration of their underpinning ethos.
From An Uneasy Dwelling: The Story of the Philadelphia Association Community Houses
by Paul Gordon
(PCCS Books, 2010)
