For Immediate Release                Contact:  Barbara Poppe,

6/24/02                                          (614) 221-9195

 

Funding for Supportive Housing Helps Homeless People Rebuild Lives

                              

COLUMBUS, OHIO, June 24, 2002—The Community Shelter Board announced funding awards for supportive housing programs as part of the Rebuilding Lives plan to provide supportive housing and services for long-term homeless adults in Columbus.  Some of the programs were new applicants, while others received renewed funding based upon their performance over the past year.  The Rebuilding Lives plan seeks to make supportive housing the solution to homelessness for adults with disabilities such as physical and mental health problems, alcohol and other drug addiction, and long-term unemployment.  According to recent outcome studies, the program is working. 

 “Supportive housing programs must perform well, achieve their goals, and be cost-effective to receive funding through the Rebuilding Lives Funder Collaborative,” said Barbara Poppe, Executive Director of the Community Shelter Board, which is the lead agency for the Funder Collaborative.  “The existing programs have been working really well.  We evaluate new programs for their potential to prevent homelessness in the future for men with a long history of being homeless.” 

The Rebuilding Lives Funder Collaborative includes major public and private-sector funding sources that pool funds to create supportive housing, a combination of housing and services designed to help men who have been homeless for long periods live within the community and improve their income, health, and stability. 

The YMCA of Central Ohio received a grant to develop 25 new units of permanent supportive housing located within the downtown YMCA facility. The units were created to respond to an immediate need for housing for long-term residents with disabilities from The Open Shelter, which ended daytime services in April.  The program provides case management services, educational and support groups, employment, educational, and entitlement assistance, linkages to medical, mental health, and substance abuse services, recreation, community outings, and life skills training.  Meals and transportation to services are also available for residents.      

The YMCA also received funding for supportive housing at Sunshine Terrace. The units are one bedroom and studio apartments within the 11-story building.  A wide range of services and amenities are available for all residents, including case management, crisis intervention, secure entry, and reception.   There are 180 total units in the building.  The YMCA received a grant in January for renewal funding for the 50 units established at Sunshine Terrace last year. 

Community Housing Network received a grant to add 27 units of new scattered-site supportive housing.  The agency will lease scattered site apartments throughout the community for long-term homeless persons who are participating in treatment and recovery services.  The Columbus Neighborhood Health Center and the Columbus Health Department are the supportive service partners. The agency received funding for 33 units of existing scattered-site apartments in January. 

 

Community Housing Network also received funding for a number of supportive housing projects.  Cassady Avenue Apartments provide 11 furnished efficiency units for persons who are making progress in recovery from alcohol and other drug addiction.  The North High Street Apartments offer 36 studio apartments with front desk reception for persons with both mental health and addiction issues.  North 22^nd Street Apartments offer 15 units of one-bedroom apartments within an apartment complex.  Services are provided through partnerships with Columbus Area Mental Health Center and the Veterans Administration. 

Community Housing Network, in partnership with Friends of the Homeless and Southeast, Inc. also manages the Parsons Avenue Apartments, with 25 efficiency-style apartments with on-site services for long-term homeless men who are in the early stages of recovery.  The same partnership operates the Safe Havens program, which provides 13 furnished efficiency units with on-site services for formerly homeless persons who are just beginning to engage in recovery. 

Southeast, Inc. recently expanded its scattered-site supportive housing from 30 to 50 units based upon the success of the first year of operation.  The program offers permanent housing with a primary focus on gradual acceptance of services and recovery.  Tenants participate in intensive case management, and linkages to necessary mental health, medical, substance abuse, and vocational resources are provided, as well as job readiness classes, life skills training, and transportation assistance.  Initially begun as a transitional program for persons with multiple barriers to maintaining housing, the program discovered that residents were interested in keeping their apartments on a more permanent basis.

Volunteers of America received a grant continue its scattered-site supportive housing.  The program offers 15 formerly homeless persons one-bedroom units that are scattered within a large apartment complex.  Volunteers of America provides case management on a frequent basis, and helps link residents to employment services and education offered at their Resource Center on the west side of Columbus.   

 

 

 

 

The Community Shelter Board (CSB) was created in 1986 to respond to the growing problem of homelessness in Columbus and Franklin County.  Since that time, CSB has allocated over $47 million to programs that provide services to families and individuals experiencing a housing crisis in our community. Last year, these programs served more than 11,000 individuals.  The Community Shelter Board is funded by the City of Columbus, the Franklin County Board of Commissioners, the United Way of Central Ohio, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the State of Ohio, and other public and private donors.

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