Latest news with #CommunityShelterBoard
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Columbus families experiencing homelessness to get $1,500, monthly payments
As homelessness outpaces population growth in Franklin County, two local organizations are partnering together to give guaranteed payments to families without housing. At its 2025 PIVOT Summit on May 29, RISE Together Innovation Institute CEO Danielle Sydnor plans to announce Stabilize Families, a partnership with Community Shelter Board and others to offer guaranteed income to local families who are unhoused. Community Shelter Board is giving 80 families $1,500 and then 20 of those families will also get $500 payments each month for 11 months, according to RISE Together, a nonprofit group aimed at ending poverty. RISE Together will fund the $500 monthly payments. Ohio State University will conduct research of the pilot program's impact. Can $500 change a life? Central Ohio uses Universal Basic Income concepts to target poverty 'With Community Shelter Board and other partners, we are building a new narrative to address poverty and support families experiencing homelessness,' Sydnor said in a statement. 'Guaranteed income is a viable strategy to promote economic stability and well-being for residents in Franklin County.' Families shouldn't have to choose between paying rent and putting food on their table, said Shannon Isom, president and CEO of Community Shelter Board, in a statement. 'Stabilize Families is about dignity — giving parents the breathing room to stabilize, plan, and dream again," Isom said. "This partnership moves us beyond temporary shelter to real solutions that empower families to reclaim their future." The pilot can also act as a model for how public, private and nonprofit sectors in the region can work together to address the root causes of homelessness and poverty with bold, evidence-based strategies, Isom said. This is the third program locally to launch that uses the principles of Universal Basic Income, or UBI, which describes programs that offer no-strings-attached cash payments. RISE Together is also a funder of the Ohio Mother's Trust, along with UpTogether. What is UBI? Universal Basic Income has buy-in from Columbus, Franklin County leaders The Ohio Mother's Trust is a local pilot program that gives 32 local mothers, selected by grassroots collective Motherful, $500 per month for 12 months. It began in January and was one of the first two local programs using the principles of a concept called Universal Basic Income, or UBI. The other is the city of Columbus' Economic Mobility Accelerator Program. It is giving $500 a month to 200 local people enrolled in six area programs for two years and started payments in March. The idea for Stabilize Families came up in RISE Together's last PIVOT Summit, in 2024, during a conversation about boosting economic security for families through guaranteed income, according to RISE. The announcement comes at a time when homelessness locally and use of the shelter system are up. The latest annual count, released earlier this month by the Community Shelter Board, found that homelessness in 2024 increased six times faster than Franklin County's population growth. Community Shelter Board's annual "point-in-time" count, which took place Jan. 23, found 2,556 people experiencing homelessness locally — up 7.4% from the 2024 count of 2,380 people. Since 2022, there's been a more than 30% increase in unhoused people in the county. Underserved Communities Reporter Danae King can be reached at dking@ or on X at @DanaeKing. This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 20 unhoused Columbus families to get monthly payments for one year
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
More than 2,550 Ohioans in Franklin County experienced homelessness in January, according to report
(Stock photo) A record-high number of people in Franklin County experienced homelessness earlier this year, according to a new report. Franklin County's annual Point-in-Time Count identified 2,556 people experiencing homelessness — a 7.4% increase from 2024. Point-in-Time counts are one-night estimates of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness that are conducted nationwide in partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Franklin County's count took place on Jan. 23. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'When you are not building out enough infrastructure and diversity of infrastructure as you're growing … or if the planning isn't being caught up to that economic growth, to that population boom — what ends up happening is that housing becomes a commodity,' said Shannon Isom, executive director of the Community Shelter Board. 'With all commodities, when you have a scarcity, it also allows for prices to go up. When prices go up, people are literally being priced out, which is exactly what's happening right now.' Individual sheltered homelessness went up by 14% compared to 2024 while the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness decreased by 12%, according to the report. A little more than half of people experiencing homelessness were men (57%), 42% were women and 1% were non-binary. 55% were Black, 33% were white and 3% were Hispanic, according to the report. There was a 31% increase in unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness, a 14% increase in single adults experiencing homelessness, and a 7% increase in veterans experiencing homelessness, according to the report. There was a 21% decrease in people with severe mental illness experiencing homelessness, a 31% decrease in the number of domestic violence survivors experiencing homelessness, and a 2% decrease in the number of people experiencing chronic homelessness, according to the report. Franklin County is Ohio's most populous county with 1,356,303 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and the region is projected to experience 16% of overall homelessness by 2028, Isom said. Ohioans need to be making at least $20.81 an hour working a full-time job to be able to afford a 'modest' two-bedroom apartment, according to a report last year by the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio. Forty percent of people experiencing homelessness are employed, Isom said. 'There's just not enough homes, there's just not enough real estate,' she said. 'It's difficult to live here within this region, again, because of the commodification of housing.' There were 11,759 people experiencing homelessness in Ohio last year, according to HUD's annual Homelessness Assessment Report. Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Columbus passes funding bump for homeless shelters; what is Franklin County's share?
The city of Columbus is allocating $10.4 million for homeless shelters and programs to help residents at risk of ending up on the streets. The Columbus City Council voted on April 28 to authorize the grant to the Community Shelter Board, which distributes public funds to Columbus' homeless shelters and other nonprofits addressing homelessness. This comes a few months after Community Shelter Board leadership lobbied the city and Franklin County for a large bump in funding, raising the alarm that homelessness is rising locally and federal COVID-19 pandemic cash that had been used to help address the problem is dwindling. The city is giving the board slightly less than it asked for to maintain beds and programs, and millions less than its leadership asked for to improve the local shelter system. The $10.4 million represents less than the city gave to the board in 2024 ($14.9 million), using $9.4 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, but more than the city previously allocated directly ($5.5 million in 2024). Adam Rowan, chief compliance and operations officer at the Community Shelter Board, testified to the city council that this money will sustain and expand critical programs. The Franklin County Board of Commissioners has not yet voted on how much money to give to the Shelter Board this year. In December, when the shelters made their pitch to the county for increased funding, Franklin County Commissioner Kevin Boyce said they made a good case, but it was a significant ask. More local government news: Inside Columbus' new surveillance network: Public-private partnership embraces camera system Government and Politics Reporter Jordan Laird can be reached at jlaird@ Follow her on X, Instagram and Bluesky at @LairdWrites. This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus increases funds for homeless shelters after call for help
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Yahoo
Columbus hotel housing homeless residents, pets shuttered for crime, safety issues
A group of homeless residents and their pets were turned out over the weekend after a Southeast Side hotel was shut down due to crime and safety issues. The Community Shelter Board had been paying the Loyalty Inn, 5910 Scarborough Blvd., since mid-December to house 30 people with pets who could not stay in regular shelters, according to the board's spokesperson Níel Jurist. The group came from homeless camps the city ordered vacated in December. On Saturday, the Loyalty Inn closed as part of an agreement between the hotel's current owner and the City Attorney's Office Property Action Team, which has been working with the property for years, according to Pete Shipley, a spokesperson for City Attorney Zach Klein. In 2021, the Franklin County Environmental Court declared the Loyalty Inn a public nuisance and ordered the owner or any subsequent owner to make improvements. The Loyalty Inn's current owners have failed to follow the court's order, according to Shipley. Columbus police have been called to the hotel about one hundred times over the last year and the most recent State Fire Marshal inspection found seventeen violations, per Shipley. "This is a really challenging case for us because we're in between a rock and a hard place," Klein told The Dispatch. "God forbid, something would happen where someone was shot or there was a fire, we would be open to genuine criticism of why didn't you do more." Klein said his office was willing to give the owner until the end of the month to shut down to give residents of the hotel time to relocate, but the owner decided to shut down early. The shelter board program was scheduled to last through the end of March, according to Jurist. The shelter board was paying between $43 and $49 per night for the rooms. Jurist said alternative shelter options were offered to the homeless residents impacted by the hotel closure, including the chance to go into a traditional shelter and their pets would be sheltered at the Franklin County Animal Shelter, but they all declined. She said some chose to return outdoors while others found other accommodations, such as with friends or family. "This situation highlights the critical shortage of deeply affordable housing. If adequate housing were available, hotels and motels would not be utilized as for emergency shelter options," Jurist said. More Shelter Board news: Community Shelter Board fires employee with anti-Muslim YouTube page jlaird@ @LairdWrites This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Loyalty Inn, Columbus hotel that housed the homeless, has shut down
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Yahoo
Columbus hotel housing homeless residents, pets shuttered for crime, safety issues
A group of homeless residents and their pets were turned out over the weekend after a Southeast Side hotel was shut down due to crime and safety issues. The Community Shelter Board had been paying the Loyalty Inn, 5910 Scarborough Blvd., since mid-December to house 30 people with pets who could not stay in regular shelters, according to the board's spokesperson Níel Jurist. The group came from homeless camps the city ordered vacated in December. On Saturday, the Loyalty Inn closed as part of an agreement between the hotel's current owner and the City Attorney's Office Property Action Team, which has been working with the property for years, according to Pete Shipley, a spokesperson for City Attorney Zach Klein. In 2021, the Franklin County Environmental Court declared the Loyalty Inn a public nuisance and ordered the owner or any subsequent owner to make improvements. The Loyalty Inn's current owners have failed to follow the court's order, according to Shipley. Columbus police have been called to the hotel about one hundred times over the last year and the most recent State Fire Marshal inspection found seventeen violations, per Shipley. "This is a really challenging case for us because we're in between a rock and a hard place," Klein told The Dispatch. "God forbid, something would happen where someone was shot or there was a fire, we would be open to genuine criticism of why didn't you do more." Klein said his office was willing to give the owner until the end of the month to shut down to give residents of the hotel time to relocate, but the owner decided to shut down early. The shelter board program was scheduled to last through the end of March, according to Jurist. The shelter board was paying between $43 and $49 per night for the rooms. Jurist said alternative shelter options were offered to the homeless residents impacted by the hotel closure, including the chance to go into a traditional shelter and their pets would be sheltered at the Franklin County Animal Shelter, but they all declined. She said some chose to return outdoors while others found other accommodations, such as with friends or family. "This situation highlights the critical shortage of deeply affordable housing. If adequate housing were available, hotels and motels would not be utilized as for emergency shelter options," Jurist said. More Shelter Board news: Community Shelter Board fires employee with anti-Muslim YouTube page jlaird@ @LairdWrites This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Loyalty Inn, Columbus hotel that housed the homeless, has shut down
