November 2017
    
 
What's Happening!
12/1 Q&A with Amazon  
12/4 Home for the Holidays   
12/12  Landlord Orientation
12/19  CMHA Board Meeting  
12/22  CMHA Closed
12/25  CMHA Closed
Contact Us
Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority
1627 Western Avenue
Cincinnati, Ohio 45214
(513) 721-4580
 
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Hello from the CEO!
Gregory D. Johnson
Efficient & Effective

Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority is in the Transformation Year of the Strategic Plan and a major internal change has taken place. The Human Resources Department has rolled out a new HR and Payroll system called Kronos. The new system meets part of the agency's "efficiency and fiscal responsibility" goal by simplifying the payroll process and providing some self-service features and easy access to payroll information for employees. The switch means less paper is being used; requests are submitted electronically and no more printed checks. The transition to Kronos could not have taken place without everyone who participated in the trial period, so thank you for your cooperation and support.
 
Also, Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority successfully completed a major step in preserving and transforming affordable housing it owns and manages. The RAD or Rental Assistance Demonstration applications were submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in late October. The conversion process is lengthy and CMHA is awaiting the next major step which is a HUD issued approval through a Commitment to enter into a Housing Assistance Payment or CHAP. A RAD conversion will allow CMHA to use non-federal funds to address its capital needs backlog which total more than $190 million. However, CMHA is committed to providing quality affordable housing and will continue to meet building maintenance responsibilities throughout the RAD conversion process.
 
The CMHA team continuously strives to carry out the Vision statement. One particular part says that we develop quality affordable housing solutions in partnership with community stakeholders. We have established partnerships with several organizations such as The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, the Homeless Coalition, Cincinnati VA, Strategies to End Homelessness and hundreds of property owners and property management companies. On November 9, 2017, the Housing Choice Voucher Program held the third Property Owners Appreciation banquet and the theme was a Celebration of Excellence. The evening was excellent; I thank everyone who made the event a success. Congratulations to the award winners and all of the partners who joined us. Highlights from the evening are featured below. In addition, it was announced that the Cincinnati VA and CMHA are once again partnering together to help homeless Veterans find a Home for the Holidays with a special Marketing Mondays event taking place December 4, 2017.   The response to help our heroes was great! If you have available property and want to open the doors for the men and women who served our country, please register now for Home for the Holidays.  
 
You can always stay connected to what's happening with CMHA by visiting our website and following the agency on social media. Find out how to register as a vendor on the Business Opportunities tab, see the calendar on the News and Events tab, and learn about our major programs on the CMHA Programs tab of www.cintimha.com. Plus you can always share information with us by calling our Talk 2 Us Hotline (513) 721-CMHA.
 
Kind Regards,   
 
 
Gregory D. Johnson, MS, PHM, EDEP
Chief Executive Officer
Homeholidays17    Home for the Holidays     
Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority and the Cincinnati VA are participating in the statewide Home for the Holidays initiative. The goal is to find affordable housing for homeless Veteran families by the end of the year. Ending Veteran homelessness has been an initiative of CMHA and the Cincinnati VA since 2008. Over the years, more than a thousand Hamilton County Veterans and their families have secured housing via the HUD-VASH Program. VASH stands for Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing and it helps Veterans lead independent lives with case management services. CMHA created a video featuring VASH participants and agency staff. Get a closer look at how the program works by watching the video at the following link. You can join us in meeting the challenge of providing A Home for the Holidays for those who served our country by calling (513) 977-5800 or signing up online for the special Marketing Mondays event to be held December 4th.
 
military_fireworks.jpg        

Nahro2017 Excellent Work
The CMHA initiative Building for the Future has won a National Award of Excellence: Resident and Client Services from the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO). The NAHRO Agency Awards were created to give national recognition to the achievement and innovation of agency members throughout the country. NAHRO Awards of Excellence winners are chosen from the Awards of Merit honorees, which are recognized for outstanding achievement in housing and community development programs in five categories. NAHRO CEO Adrianne Todman stated, "Despite the growing need and tightening budgets facing NAHRO member agencies, leaders in the industry still find effective and innovative ways to serve their residents and communities."
 
CMHA started a contractor educational and support initiative for small, minority (MBE) and women (WBE) owned as well as Section 3 and resident-owned businesses to prepare them for HUD's RAD implementation. Through the Building for the Future initiative, CMHA partners with community resources to help smaller contractors compete for subcontracts with the large construction firms who win the RAD project contracts. The initiative is crucial because it teaches people and companies the skills needed to compete in the ever-changing construction field.
  
Chief Executive Officer Gregory D. Johnson accepted the award at NAHRO's National Conference and Exhibition.
 agspotlibraryAgency Spotlight: Painter Training Program
Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority and Sherwin-Williams paint a path to success for residents. Sherwin-Williams conducts the HomeWork Painter Training Program for CMHA residents and has invested over $245,000 of in-kind support for seven classes from 2015 to 2017.   As a partner, CMHA provides a training site, a painting project and participants for the five days of training while Sherwin-Williams provides the curriculum, painting expert/trainer, painting supplies, paint and lunch each day. Participants receive the tools and certificates needed to become a part of the local skilled work force. In addition, each trainee who passes a special test receives their EPA Lead Safety Certification at their graduation.
Jones & Lawrence


Over the past 3 years more than 100 residents have graduated from the painter's class, many of them finding success in the field. In addition, during the past two years, graduates earned over $190,000 in extra income doing painting jobs for CMHA properties. Don Jones and Jene'ya Lawrence are 2015 graduates who highly recommend the class to other residents. Mr. Jones explains why the Sherwin-Williams CMHA partnership is invaluable, "It's a great opportunity to learn a trade, something that will help you come up and make money. I got a lot of training if I had to pay for it, I probably never would have got it." After graduating from the program Jones and Lawrence both went on to secure painting jobs at CMHA sites. The work they completed did not go unnoticed they acquired more work with the agency and with other contractors in the area. Currently Jones and Lawrence work as Section 3 contractors with CMHA doing grounds and maintenance work. The experience is one Ms. Lawrence believes will carry with her to the next level, "The opportunities that Sherwin-Williams gave me benefitted me a lot. I have learned and gained a lot just from participating in a week long class. I plan to take it further. I plan to keep painting and learning new things through CMHA."
Banquet2017  A Night of Excellence
A Celebration of Excellence was the theme for Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority's third Annual Landlord Appreciation Banquet which was held November 9, 2017 at the Sharonville Convention Center. Mr. Steven Reece co-hosted the event along with CMHA's own Joy Gazaway. Mr. Reece is an exceptional entrepreneur and understands the need for affordable housing. He shared stories about friends and family who grew up in affordable housing and he spoke about his career as Mayor Berry's chief of staff where he worked with the CMHA Board of Directors. There were 9 property owners, property managers and partnering organizations who received the Excellence Award. Honorees were recognized for helping CMHA provide quality affordable housing for participants and for taking steps to help the agency achieve Gold Standards in the day to day operations of the Housing Choice Voucher Program. The Partnership Awards went to Strategies to End Homelessness and the Cincinnati VA Medical Center for the collaborative work being done to reduce homelessness in Hamilton County. Do you know what the face of homelessness looks like? Please take some time to watch the video presentation of the work all three organizations are doing to help house homeless families.