Bethesda Project began in 1979 when Reverend Domenic Rossi and members of his prayer group from Daylesford Abbey in Paoli, Pennsylvania, reached out to a group of women experiencing homelessness in Center City, Philadelphia. Committed to caring for the women as they would members of their own families, the group rented an apartment at 12th and Sansom Streets. The women had a new home there, and the prayer group provided companionship to help them cope with mental illness.