The two-year grants take effect on Jan. 1 and will offset the cost of operating the housing programs, their executive directors said.
Announced last week, 75 statewide organizations operating emergency shelters and supportive housing facilities will receive grants totaling more than $15.1 million through the Ohio Housing Trust Fund Homeless Assistance Grant Program.
Michael Hiler, deputy chief for the Office of Community Development, said the money will help support the state’s “most vulnerable citizens.”
He said the funds should “continue making a difference in the lives of Ohioans.”
New Housing Ohio, with offices in Lebanon and Sharonville, received the third-largest grant in the state, only behind Family and Community Services in Portage County ($646,000) and St. Vincent Hotel in Montgomery County ($603,000).
Scott Boone, executive director of New Housing Ohio, said the grant will support two Warren County programs and one in Seneca County near Toledo.
In Warren County, the money will fund Bernie’s Place, a 14-bed short-term facility that houses individuals for up to 90 days, Boone said. The shelter allows individuals to get “stability back in their lives,” he said.
The Specialized Housing Assistance Program (SHAP) provides rental subsidies to individuals and families with mental illnesses, or those receiving treatment for alcohol or drug addictions.
For instance, if monthly rent is $500, and the person makes $1,000 a month, the person pays 30 percent of their salary toward rent and SHAP covers the rest.
The third program, which was just launched, provides transitional housing for families who live in a converted bed-and-breakfast. They are allowed to live there for up to six months, and the entire time they receive counseling from social service agencies.
Boone said his agency has “a long-standing track record” with the state and they’re “very good stewards of the money.”
He added: “We don’t take it lightly that it’s tax dollars.”
Joy A. Bankston, executive director of the Warren Metropolitan Housing Authority, said without the state funds the transitional housing program that guides 58 homeless families toward permanent housing couldn’t operate.
CHOSEN “couldn’t survive” without the financial assistance, said Linda Kimble, executive director of the 52-bed homeless shelter.
She said the funds will be used to cover the expenses of operating the shelter, especially utility bills. The center also is funded by private donations and receives in-kind donations from numerous churches, she said.
CHOSEN has space for 40 men and 12 women, and on most nights all beds are filled, she said. Without the shelter, Kimble said, those people would be living on the streets or in abandoned houses.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2842 or rmccrabb@coxohio.com.
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