Community Shelter Board leads a coordinated, community effort to make sure everyone has a place to call home. CSB is the collective impact organization driving strategy, accountability, collaboration, and resources to achieve the best outcomes for people facing homelessness in Columbus and Franklin County. With the support of a compassionate community, our system of care served 15,000 people last year with homelessness prevention, shelter, street outreach, rapid re-housing, and permanent supportive housing.
Community Shelter Board is funded by the City of Columbus, the Franklin County Board of Commissioners, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Ohio Development Services Agency, the State of Ohio, United Way of Central Ohio, The Columbus Foundation, Nationwide Foundation, American Electric Power Foundation, Battelle, and many other public and private investors.
The poor, no matter how destitute, have enormous untapped capacity; find it, be inspired by it, and build upon it. -Robert D. Lupton
Melvin Schottenstein believed that it was not acceptable for any person to be homeless in the Columbus and Franklin County community, even for one night. He had a bottom line inability to accept any situation that left a man, woman or child without food or shelter. He worked closely with another local philanthropist, Nancy Jeffrey; and a local businessman, Bob Lazarus; to bring together both public and private funders to fashion a collective community response to homelessness.
These three people were absolute champions around the issue of homelessness in Columbus, and were instrumental in founding the Community Shelter Board in 1986.
