Building better communities.
We help match people’s needs with known programs and resources, including with our own ministries.
Our Ministries
Care for God’s people.
ADROP is an Augustinian ministry organization that provides care to individuals. Learn more about how we build better communities.
Criminal Justice Accompaniment & Reform
Supporting our human family & advocating for systemic change.
Brewin’ Peace Coffee Cart
Returning citizens spreading hospitality as a pathway to sustainable employment.
Our Mission
Better communities.
The Mission of the Augustinian Defenders of the Rights of the Poor is to build bridges between providers, recipients and community leaders across economic, political and religious spectra. ADROP accomplishes its Mission by matching individuals with identified needs to known resources in order to build better communities.
Our History
Defending human rights.
In 401 AD, Saint Augustine urged the Council of Carthage to call on the Emperor to reestablish the office of defender of the rights of the poor. In this tradition, ADROP continues to work as defenders of the most vulnerable members of society.
ADROP Founder
Fr. Jack Deegan, O.S.A.
ADROP was founded in 2004 by Jack Deegan, O.S.A. Fr. Deegan brought leaders, service providers, and volunteers together to assess the needs of the poor in South Philadelphia and began to match those needs with known resources. Since that time our over 150 volunteers and leaders have affected the lives of over 1,000 families living in the South Philadelphia Area and beyond.
We, as Augustinians and laypeople, must make poverty the center of our ministry and devote a major portion of our time, talents and resources to fostering systemic change in the way poverty is addressed. We must join with educational institutions, parish ministries, and other grassroots organizations to use their expertise to understand the causes of poverty and what can be done to effect real, sustainable change.
