Latest news with #ShannonIsom
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
24-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How central Ohio homeless agency could be hit by DOGE cuts
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — As the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continues making cuts to the budgets of various agencies and departments, many organizations are bracing for the trickle-down effect. Locally, the Community Shelter Board's president and CEO Shannon Isom said the organization is expected to receive about $4 million in federal funding. She is waiting to see what impact any cuts to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) would mean for her team. 'We don't believe it's the entire $4 million that is at risk, but that there's a good proportion of that, and so again, this has just come out and we're still trying to organize that, but what we do know is that this community, we will have to figure out how to serve youth that serve families differently,' Isom said. Ohio State students create dating app with safety as top priority Since 2023, Isom has served as president and CEO of the Community Shelter Board, the first Black person to lead the organization in its nearly 40-year history. 'Our continuum of care, Community Shelter Board, is ranked number one in HUD for being a united funding agency,' Isom said. 'And that's not only in the way that we spend our dollars, making sure that every dollar is spent.' One of her key accomplishments while leading the YWCA Dayton was growing the organization's operational budget by 196%, which made her an ideal fit for the Community Shelter Board. 'But we're ranked number one and procuring the dollars and being really competitive and so, over the last two years, we have increased the dollars that have come into this community federally by 32%,' Isom said. With decades of leadership experience, Isom's work is deeply rooted in her commitment to addressing gender and racial issues as well as the critical issue of housing. 'For the first time here within Franklin County here, within Columbus, we are dealing with an economic boom that we are seeing that is over and above probably not only that what we planned for, but what we imagined and, in that way, it's a good thing,' Isom said. Tiny-home development gives homeless place of their own She completed her undergraduate studies at Spelman College in Atlanta. She credits the historically Black women's college with playing a pivotal role in shaping the person she is today. 'It is embedded within you, probably within 72 hours, the whole reason we are educated in this sisterhood, is to give,' Isom said. The Community Shelter Board works with 16 agencies across Franklin County to provide resources for homelessness prevention, shelter, street outreach, rapid re-housing, and permanent supportive housing. For more information, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Finding creative solutions to central Ohio's housing shortage
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Housing in America has reached a critical stage, and central Ohio is feeling the crunch. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the U.S. has a shortage of 7.3 million rental homes available to renters with extremely low incomes. That shortage directly relates to an increase in homelessness. The Community Shelter Board in Columbus says homelessness in central Ohio could increase by as much as 68% over the next four years. 'We have low vacancy rates here within our region and very, very high increased rent rates, that when you add those two things together, it actually causes an increase of homelessness,' said Shannon Isom, Community Shelter Board President & CEO. Those statistics suggest some creative solutions are needed, and one potential solution is already physically in place. According to CBRE, Columbus has more than 1 million square feet of empty office space undergoing renovation into other uses, including new housing space. 'You see there is a huge opportunity here to turn these vacant offices into new and better uses,' said Jessica Moran of CBRE. But not all empty office space is a perfect fit for new housing, and that's for a variety of reasons. 'Even if they (developers) are buying it at a steep discount, it still is more expensive to convert those than it is to build brand new, multifamily complexes,' said CBRE's Michael Copella. Local builders like Brad DeHays of Connect Real Estate have scooped up properties throughout Columbus. He says repurposing office space carries more benefits than just the new housing. 'Any time you have large vacant buildings, it affects the retail, it affects parking, it affects other businesses because a half vacant building is very difficult to recover from,' DeHays said. DeHays' company has transformed several former office spaces into new apartment living. His property at 174 Front Street is a former office building now redeveloped into 32 apartments in a growing portion of downtown. Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo to perform in Columbus this spring He's also developed a pre-built apartment process to quickly transform other buildings into more affordable options. 'Builders want to see density. Well, now it's a supply/demand issue with demand constantly rising and construction costs constantly rising,' he said. Five years ago, CSB partnered with other local agencies to turn a former Country Inn & Suites in Northland into a new apartment space concept called 'The Mediterranean.' It's a space intended for people dealing with homelessness to provide stability towards new housing. Today, it remains a creative solution in an unstable marketplace. 'I'm proposing that there's not going to be enough money to solve for it without having a new way to think about housing,' Isom said. The City of Columbus has responded with a re-zoning plan, allowing for more affordable housing in the city to be developed quickly. That plan is to build 100,000 new homes in the next decade. 'For builders and developers like myself, it allows you to have clarity on what's going to be allowed on real estate. And that clarity is what it takes to recruit investment,' DeHays said. 'Those are things really that you need, especially when you're trying to take on some of the most expensive real estate in Ohio.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
