Philadelphia’s Poor House Social welfare today, focuses on an exceptionally broad range of services to the helpless population. However; in the early 1700’s, social welfare began by focusing on the area of public health and over the years it expanded and improved. After World War I, there were many epidemics and sick people. To prevent the spread of disease, quarantine facilities were built. In 1713, the “Friends Almshouse” was established by a Quaker group “The Guardians of the Poor”; an unpaid Philadelphia committee that was required to raise relief funds for the poor ("From Almshouse to Asylum: Orphans in Allegheny County: A Pathfinder," 1996) The Friends Almshouse provided support and housing for poor, vulnerable populations of all faiths. At the time, these populations consisted of the elderly, the disabled, and populations with long term illnesses. Almshouses were the original hospitals because it provided aid to the sick (Willits, 1885). This paper shall detail a brief background of when and how the poor house in Philadelphia was established, the location of Philadelphia’s poor house, its past history and its existence today.…show more content… Attributed to, the rapid growth of need in the community, this site quickly became overcrowded and there had to be some a solution to help pay for the cost of keeping the Almshouse running. The Pennsylvania Assembly was responsible for choosing the overseers of the Almshouses. According to Willits (1885), “The Assembly directed Justice of Peace every year to elect overseers for the poor. The overseer was authorized to tax one penny per pound and 4 shillings per person to raise money for the poor on real and personal property of citizens of the township. (P.