February 2,
2004
COLUMBUS, OHIO, February 2,
2004—The community has expressed its continuing support for the Rebuilding Lives
initiative and the Safety Net programs that address homelessness in Columbus and
Franklin County.
Today Columbus City Council
will express their support by awarding $1,713,400 to ensure stable funding for
Rebuilding Lives supportive housing and Safety Net programs through January
2005. These funding commitments
will be adopted as part of the 2004 City general fund
budget.
“The Community Shelter Board
is deeply grateful to City Council for stepping up to prioritize immediate needs
for shelter and long-term supportive housing. We are all fortunate to have
solid public leadership in our community,” stated Floyd V. Jones, Chair of
CSB.
Led by CSB, the Rebuilding Lives plan is a two-pronged
approach to ending homelessness and literally “rebuilding lives.” In July of 1999, the Community Shelter
Board, with tremendous collaboration among providers and funders began
implementing the Rebuilding Lives
plan, which addresses short-term needs through emergency shelter and
long-term needs through supportive housing. Currently 377 units of supportive
housing are operational, with another 145 units in various stages of
development.
Denise Cornett, a resident of
Rebuilding Lives supportive housing, expresses her gratitude. Ms. Cornett provided testimony at a
Council budget hearing on December 18.
“The Commons at Grant gives me the opportunity to not only take care of
myself, but to help other people share their gifts and talents. Rebuilding your life is achievable—if I
can do it, anybody can do it.”
Columbus
continues to gain recognition as a national model for its approach to
homelessness. The January 26, 2004
edition of the Christian Science Monitor
recognized Columbus and the Community Shelter Board for its “bold approach to
chronic homelessness" through the Rebuilding Lives plan. The article noted that Columbus is “at
the forefront of a trend gaining momentum in cities: housing the chronically
homeless …as Columbus nears the end of a five-year
plan to transform its strategy, the rest of the country is
watching.”
The Community Shelter Board’s
Safety Net programs include emergency shelter, direct housing, and supportive
services in shelter. Beyond
providing a secure and clean place to stay, all programs are geared toward
assisting homeless families and individuals quickly exit the shelter system and
move into appropriate housing. More
than 800 families and 7,000 single adults are served annually by these
programs.
The Community Shelter Board,
established in 1986, is a non-profit intermediary organization that coordinates
community based efforts, fosters collaboration, and funds services to assist
families and individuals in Central Ohio to resolve their housing crisis. The Community Shelter Board allocates
$7.5 million annually to support programs at 13 agencies. 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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