New initiative helps Franklin County's low-wage workers obtain housing stability

Started in the fall, the Resiliency Bridge program focuses on the intersection of affordable housing and workforce development. The project aims to help Franklin County’s low-income residents achieve long-term housing and financial stability by offering them job training and subsidizing their rental costs as they work to obtain their education credentials.

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The newly established program received $500,000 from JPMorgan Chase & Co., $500,000 from the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority and $711,000 from the Franklin County Board of Commissioners, according to Carlie Boos, executive director of the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio.



Renters, landlords can seek financial assistance to avoid eviction process

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A local program was designed for renters and landlords to keep people housed and owners paid during the pandemic.

According to the website’s About Page, Rentful614 is there to help stop the spread of evictions.

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“In Franklin County last year in 2021, we had over 15,000 evictions,” said Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio Executive Director Carlie Boos. “That’s just a little bit shy of where we were pre-pandemic. So, any stall out that we saw, has come back.”

There are five organizations that make up Rentful614.com.

Boos said the money comes from federal pass-through funds that are hosted by the state, the city, and the county.

“Rentful614 is an information hub. It’s a one-stop-shop for all things rent assistance,” Boos said.

She said the site is open for renters and landlords to find the right resources to assist them with either making payments or getting paid. Landlords can apply for assistance for up to 18 months for rent and utilities. This can be used for past due payments and future payments.

Landlords can get assistance without filing an eviction.

“We don’t want landlords to have to pay for an attorney,” Boos said. “We don’t want tenants to have that appear on their credit record. We definitely don’t want everybody coming down to the courthouse in the middle of a pandemic.”

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According to Rentful614, about one-third of Ohio’s renters are having trouble paying rent.

“Statistically speaking, if you know four renters, a cousin, or a colleague who rents, you know someone who is probably facing an eviction right now,” Boos said. “They aren’t talking about it because it’s terrifying and it’s embarrassing.”

To eliminate the stigma many renters may have, the program is set up to be private for both renters and landlords.

The site was launched in English at the beginning of the year. Since then, there are now translations in Somali and Spanish.


Columbus knows how to solve problems. Days numbered for affordable housing crisis.

We can work together to solve affordable housing problem

When Central Ohio decides to solve a problem, consider it a done deal.

Providing opportunity and access for every resident to receive free COVID tests and safe, effective vaccines? Creating a pathway to college for every Columbus City Schools’ graduate? Becoming Ohio’s premiere economic powerhouse? Done.

As an affordable housing advocate, it makes me proud and encouraged to live in a community that comes together to solve big problems.

We have a huge housing problem on our hands—tens of thousands of homes are needed in our community and that gap keeps getting bigger.

 The Columbus Dispatch reported that Columbus will have the fifth hottest housing market in the country. Good if you’re selling a home…not so if you’re buying, renting, or struggling to keep up with property taxes.


The City of Columbus and Franklin County are collaborating and targeting housing as a priority to address, now. The region’s new Recovery and Resiliency report identified 37 strategies to ensure we emerge from COVID-19 stronger than before. The first seven strategies move us closer to solving the affordable housing puzzle. And our elected officials aren’t waiting for the ink to dry to get to work.

To raise awareness about the existing resources available in Greater Columbus to help pay rent, the City and County teamed up with a number of nonprofits to launch www.Rentful614.com, an online relief hub for landlords and tenants. It dispels common rent assistance myths, provides eviction information localized to Franklin County, and connects people to places where they can get relief funds.

Considering that one in four Ohio renters don’t know how they’re going to pay rent this holiday season, sharing this tool far and wide could help make the holidays – and beyond –brighter for a neighbor, colleague or family in need.

Watch out, housing crisis, when Central Ohio addresses a challenge, together, consider it done.

Bill Hinga, senior vice president for business development at Wallick Communities and Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio board of directors member







Why It’s So Hard to Build Affordable Housing

A wide range of local organizations and institutions have been working in recent years to draw attention to the need for more affordable housing in Central Ohio. Numerous plans and studies have been completed on the topic, but they tend to assume a level of familiarity with the affordable housing and development industries that most people simply don’t have, and they don’t answer the most basic question – ‘If there is such a desperate shortage of affordable housing, why aren’t developers just building more of it?’

[…]

Here’s What ‘Affordable Housing’ Means in Practice in Columbus

In addition to the usual stats like total square footage, height, and number of units, many development announcements in recent years have started to include another metric – the percentage of ‘affordable’ or ‘workforce’ units that will be included the project.

[…]

Black leaders say more money needs to be spent on affordable housing in Greater Columbus

Black community leaders urged public and private officials to do more to create affordable housing in Greater Columbus, saying the need has become as dire as ever.

"We are demanding an affordable housing action plan," said Nana Watson, president of the NAACP Columbus chapter, who said there still aren't enough units being built. 

"This is a health care crisis. This is a social justice crisis," said U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Gahanna area Democrat, during an event at Trinity Baptist Church on the city's Near East Side.

Despite many efforts — such as Columbus' $50 million bond package for affordable housing, Mayor Andrew J. Ginther appointing the city's first assistant director of housing strategies in May, and the work of groups such as the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio — Black leaders from various organizations on Thursday said numbers indicate the problem of the lack of affordable housing is worsening.


[…]

From the editor: ‘Mindset of a growth region’ requires commitment to affordable housing

The Columbus region’s humming economic engine could stall if we don’t get the worsening housing shortfall under control.

That was the crux of the message from a recent panel of community leaders assembled by the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio to discuss the connection between economic development and affordable housing. (Watch the replay here.)

Kenny McDonald, who has led the region’s economic-development efforts for the past decade-plus as head of what’s now One Columbus, told the panel it concerns him when the availability of affordable housing no longer matches the pitch he’s made to businesses moving or expanding here. 

“It goes to the very heart of having the mindset of a growth region, meaning there’s a lot of responsibility that comes with that,” he said. “We like to brag about all the people moving here, we love to brag about all the great employers that we have here. But we also want to brag that we’re fulfilling those promises that we can supply the workforce, that those people can have a place to call home. 


[…]

Why Columbus is in a 'sweet spot' for solving its housing challenge

Columbus is recognizing the need to solve affordable housing crisis more quickly than other cities our size, local leaders say, putting the city in a strong position to overcome the thorny challenge.


"Our city is in a sweet spot where we still have time to pull the housing market back from the brink before our crisis sprawls out of control," said Carlie Boos, director of the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio.


Columbus nonprofit works to provide affordable, accessible housing for people with developmental disabilities

Carol Washburn wasn’t sure if her daughter would ever live independently.

Washburn, of Upper Arlington, said her daughter, Debbie, was born with cerebral palsy among other developmental disabilities, and because of this, she didn’t know what the future held for her

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Buenconsejo said the organization, which is is a part of the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio, is funded through grants from organizations such the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities as well as rent.