Community Shelter Board (CSB) leads the coordinated response to homelessness in Franklin County and the Central Ohio region. CSB’s vision is a world where everyone has a safe and stable place to call home.
Who We Are
CSB is a nationally recognized, results-driven leader in homelessness prevention and housing solutions.
Unified Funding Agency
CSB is the first Unified Funding Agency (UFA) designated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and one of only 15 UFAs nationwide.
System Leader
CSB serves as the central convener, funder, and strategist for the homelessness response system.
Regional Catalyst
CSB oversees a collaborative network of 16 partners delivering shelter, housing, and support services.
What We Do
CSB aligns strategy, systems, accountability, and funding to drive measurable impact.
Strategy
To prioritize and position innovative solutions in alignment with planning efforts by federal, state, and local agencies.
Collaboration
Within the homeless system, between other systems of care, and across the community.
Accountability
Through data and compliance monitoring for all public funding from federal, state, and local levels, as well as private sector funding.
Resources
From federal, state, and local levels in both the public and private sectors.
CSB’s Impact
With the support of a compassionate community, our system of care served more than 20,000 people in FY2025 with homelessness prevention, shelter, street outreach, rapid rehousing, diversion & coordinated entry, transitional housing, and permanent supportive housing.
Responsible Resource Management
In FY25, CSB spent 95% of its budget on programs serving people experiencing homelessness.
CSB is funded by:
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
- City of Columbus
- Franklin County Board of Commissioners
- State of Ohio
- United Way of Central Ohio
- American Electric Power Foundation
- Nationwide and the Nationwide Foundation
- The Columbus Foundation
- Many other public and private funders
CSB’s Founders
Melvin Schottenstein believed that it was not acceptable for any person to be homeless in the Franklin County and Central Ohio 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 Central Ohio and were instrumental in founding the Community Shelter Board in 1986.