Columbus continues affordable housing work with grants to non-profits

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The housing crisis is a major concern for leaders in central Ohio, but now there’s a lot less money to address it.

That’s because the federal emergency rental assistance that started during the COVID-19 pandemic has run out. Now, Columbus must get creative to meet the demand for housing resources.

"We're growing at such a rapid rate and housing stock has not kept up with our rate of growth, so it's a critical issue, really, for any nonprofit," Jewish Family Services CEO Karen Mozenter said. 

Columbus City Council approved nearly $500,000 for seven nonprofits providing homeless prevention services as a part of the Resilient Housing Initiative. 

The seven non-profits part of this new program moving forward, providing support to those struggling to stay in their homes, are Columbus Literacy Council, The Broad Street Presbyterian Church Of Columbus, The Gladden Community House, The Homeless Families Foundation, Jewish Family Service, Saint Stephen Community Services and The Young Men's Christian Association Of Central Ohio.

They were selected through what the city said was a vigorous selection process. 

"Competencies and connections to communities matter and so having organizations that have already worked with us or already worked with emergency rental assistance in the past was a huge determining factor on who we were moving forward with," Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin said. 

NBC4 spoke with Jewish Family Services about this work, something it really dove into during the pandemic. 

"We really jumped into housing in a big way during the pandemic," Mozenter said. "We have people on staff who can counsel folks who are at risk of homelessness or need help with housing stability."

This money will be used for more than just rental assistance, because it’s city money, not federal, the guidelines are less strict. It could help with a utility bill that is driving someone to homelessness, but because there is less money available, qualifying for it will be more difficult.

"We're going to be pretty focused on who we can have the most impact and help with these limited dollars," Hardin said. "What we are saying in the city of Columbus is that we're not throwing our hands up and saying we can't do anything. We're going to bring together our finite resources, work with these organizations that have these relationships and work as hard as we can to make sure we can keep as many folks in their homes as possible."

Some community leaders have expressed concern that this is not enough because this initiative will serve about 600 households, which is a fraction of who could be helped through the federal funds.

"This is the city's best effort right now to make sure that we are able to support as many families with the very finite resources that we have in their time of need," Hardin said. 

This program is set to run for the next six months, then the city will evaluate what else needs to be done. Right now, the non-profits are going through training and meetings before those in need can start applying at the beginning of October.