Since our founding in 1989, PDP's mission has been to promote economic development in low and moderate-income neighborhoods of the Philadelphia metropolitan region. During our initial years, we supported community development corporations to expand the availability of decent and affordable rental and for sale housing for low-income residents.

In the wake of 1990's federal welfare reform and the increasing economic pressure on low income people to obtain jobs paying living wages or to engage in income generating activity, PDP's strategy to arrest poverty and redevelop Philadelphia's neighborhoods changed. We recognized that changes in the economy called for increased self-sufficiency among economically disadvantaged populations and in economically distressed communities.

Specifically, we saw a critical need to make available loans and business support services to low-income families striving for self-sufficiency through self-employment and business ownership. As a result, PDP adopted microenterprise development—services supporting the creation and growth of very small businesses (microenterprises) through loans, business training, peer support, marketing assistance and networking opportunities—as the cornerstone of its work.

Early in this process, major funders—including The Connelly Foundation, The William Penn Foundation and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development—recognized the promise of our new focus and supported our efforts. Following several years of planning, in 1999 PDP launched its signature microenterprise development program, Community Capital Works (CCW). Soon after, we established a lending affiliate, Community Capital Works, Inc. (CCW, Inc.), to house and manage our loan fund, called The Heldring Fund. CCW, Inc. is certified as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and Community Development Entity (CDE). With the forming of the first peer group of entrepreneurs in February 1999, CCW, Inc. disbursed the first three loans of $500 each just three months later.

Since then, more than 500 entrepreneurs have participated in the peer lending program, taking advantage of the program's loans, training, and business support services to launch or expand their businesses.

Today, PDP has evolved into the region's leading provider of microenterprise development services, having expanded its array of program offerings with new loan products and business services, including technical assistance and training, and its reach into the neighborhoods, with the opening of a satellite office in the City of Chester.