Knight Foundation Sends $720,000 to Akron Neighborhoods on the Tipping Point

Member Zac Kohl of The Well Akron paid $4,500 for a condemned house on Jewett Street in Middlebury. That was back in 2012, when the poor Akron neighborhood had even fewer cheap and vacant houses than it does today. The Knight Foundation is investing in Akron's tipping point neighborhoods as described in the Akron Beacon Journal. 

America's 'Overdose Capital' is Rising Up, And It's Time for the Media to Pay Attention

Huffington Post recently ran a piece about the reality of Dayton. There is a lot of hope there. Member, East End Community Services, gets a mention in this piece. "Every year, they connect over 1,000 people to services that help support their growth and stability: helping families, after all, is the best way to heal a community." Read the whole story.

Share Your Stories

We love hearing about the awesome work you do throughout Ohio. If your organization is mentioned in the news, please share it with us. We love photos too! If you send it to Lisa Much , we can put it on our blog and in this newsletter. 

A New Book Explains How Regional Food Systems Can Transform Economies

When appropriately tailored to the local context, investments in regional food systems can lead to economic benefits for both urban and rural communities. Learn how and get a free download from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Three Lessons From the Rust Belt on Growing a Healthy City

Armando Carbonell and Torey Hollingsworth of the Greater Ohio Policy Center's Op-Ed was recently published in Next City.

October was a big month for the OCDCA VISTA project! All our VISTAs were in attendance at the annual conference in Toledo, and their help in running the conference was greatly appreciated. We'd like to highlight our VISTA Christina Ehrlich this month, who worked with volunteers from AK Steel to improve homes in her community!

Open Enrollment Begins Tomorrow

Year 15: Transition Strategies for Expiring LIHTC Properties

A State Policy Blueprint & Primer: Advancing a Path to Prosperity for All

2017 Ohio Housing Conference

Creative Ohio: Healthy Communities

Rural Technical Assistance Opportunity

The National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB), is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in San Antonio, TX who recently received a HUD grant to deliver project-based and organizational technical assistance (TA) and capacity building services, and loans to affordable housing and community development projects, in rural communities in 12 states.

Government, tribal, and non-profit affordable housing providers, and community and economic development entities in rural areas of Ohio are eligible for this TA. More information here.

OHFA Housing Assistance to Reduce Infant Mortality

The Ohio Housing FinanceAgency (OHFA) is seeking proposals to establish a time-limited housing assistance pilot program to expand housing opportunities and demonstrate the effectiveness of a time-limited rental subsidy targeted to households that include pregnant women, new mothers or infants within the first year of life. The pilot program must include rental assistance, access to maternal and child health care services, social service supports and activities to foster long-term housing stability. The goal of the pilot program is to assess the potential impact of a rental subsidy to reduce the risk factors for infant mortality and increase housing stability of low-income households with children. Deadline is November 1.

AEP Access to Environmental Education Fund

The Foundation for Appalachian Ohio (FAO) invites educators and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations to apply for the 2015 AEP Access to Environmental Education Mini-Grant program. Projects encouraging youth participation in learning experiences linked to local natural resources and sharing the lessons learned with their communities are eligible for funding. Eligibility extends to educators and nonprofit organizations throughout the 32 counties of Appalachian Ohio. Deadline is November 13.

FY 2017 Jobs Plus Initiative Grant Program

The Jobs Plus program develops locally-based, job-driven approaches that increase earnings and advance employment outcomes through work readiness, employer linkages, job placement, educational advancement, technology skills, and financial literacy for residents of public housing. The place-based Jobs Plus program addresses poverty among public housing residents by incentivizing and enabling employment through earned income disregards for working residents and a set of services designed to support work including employer linkages, job placement and counseling, educational advancement, and financial counseling. Deadline is November 17.

HUD Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant

The Choice Neighborhoods program leverages significant public and private dollars to support locally driven strategies that address struggling neighborhoods with distressed public or HUD assisted housing through a comprehensive approach to neighborhood transformation. Local leaders, residents, and stakeholders, such as public housing authorities, cities, schools, police, business owners, nonprofits, and private developers, come together to create and implement a plan that revitalizes distressed HUD housing and addresses the challenges in the surrounding neighborhood. The program helps communities transform neighborhoods by revitalizing severely distressed public and/or assisted housing and catalyzing critical improvements in the neighborhood, including vacant property, housing, businesses, services and schools. Deadline is November 22.

ServeOhio AmeriCorps State Notice of Funding

Unlike OCDCA's AmeriCorps VISTA project, AmeriCorps State members may engage in direct service. Applicants must submit a notice of intent to apply by November 6. Application is due December 1.

From Enterprise Community Partners...Last week, Congress passed a budget resolution for fiscal year (FY) 2018 that paves the way for tax reform legislation to be accomplished through reconciliation, a tool that authorizes the Senate to pass legislation with 50 votes. The budget resolution also allows the federal deficit to increase by $1.5 trillion over the next ten years to account for reduced revenue resulting from proposed decreases to corporate and individual tax rates. The budget resolution passed narrowly in both the Senate (51-49) and the House (216-212), with Democrats in unanimous opposition and several Republicans voting against it because of two primary objections - the increase in deficit spending and the potential for the state and local tax deduction to be eliminated in tax reform. 

Republican leadership hopes to pass tax legislation before the end of the year, but several other contentious issues - including funding the government after the current continuing resolution expires on December 8 and passing additional disaster recovery resources - will also require lawmakers' attention in the few remaining weeks.

House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX-8) is expected to release the text of his committee's tax reform bill on November 1, followed by a markup in the committee the week of November 6 and a vote on the House floor the week of November 13. The Senate is expected to follow closely behind the House, with a markup of a tax reform bill in the Senate Finance Committee the week of November 13.

View the NLIHC historic HUD/USDA budget chart by program.

The HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) is looking for HOME success stories. Congress has yet to finalize its fiscal year (FY) 2018 spending bills, and the House proposed cutting HOME by $100 million to a historic low of $850 million. 

 
For over 20 years, HOME has been one of the most effective, flexible, and locally driven tools to help states and communities address their most pressing housing challenges. Recent cuts to HOME from more than $1.8 billion in 2010 to $950 million in 2017 have only made it more difficult for America's most vulnerable households to access a safe, decent, and affordable home. 

1. Sign on to the HOME Coalition's letter urging Congress to restore HOME funding to at least $1.2 billion in FY 2018. Sign your organization on to the letter now.
2. Submit HOME success stories to show the impact of the HOME Program and give a face to who the program serves. Please use this HOME success story template and submit stories to Althea Arnold ([email protected]) or Clay Kerchof ([email protected]).

The deadline to sign your organization onto the letter and submit success stories is November 10. Thank you for your support of this crucial resource.