Church was a daily ritual in the sturdy brick DiIulio house. DiIulio's father was a deputy sheriff and his mother worked at Strawbridge's, a local department store. Like South Philly, DiIulio's new neighborhood was a place where everyone knew your name and your business. If a family went through a hard time, it was the church and neighbors who helped. That sort of cohesive spirit can be seen in DiIulio's desire to bring back neighborhoods like the ones he grew up in.
Compassion has to be up close and personal, and it has to be delivered through the churches.
In 8th grade, DiIulio won a scholarship to attend the elite Haverford School on Philadelphia's stretch of wealthy enclaves known as the Main Line. He stood 5 feet 8 and weighed 185 pounds, and the school was after his brawn for the football team. Little did they know the intellectual heft they had on their hands. Haverford got DiIulio to the Ivy League, the University of Pennsylvania. He became the first person in his family to attend college, taking a bus across town every day instead of living on campus like most of his peers.