December 2016
  
 
What's Happening!

12/17 - Asset Management Good Neighbor Program
12/20 -  Board of Commissioners Meeting
12/23-26 - CMHA Closed
12/27 - MOVE Employment Program
1/9 - Marketing Mondays  
Contact Us
Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority
1627 Western Avenue
Cincinnati, Ohio 45214
(513) 721-4580
 
CMHAConnect
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hiringCMHANow Hiring
Development Director
CMHA is looking for a new Development Director. This team member will oversee and implement the development and preservation of affordable housing. The Development Director will be responsible for a pipeline of transactions for the growth of affordable housing for the agency, residents and communities. This position is broadly defined to accommodate every phase of affordable housing development.

Click here to get full details of the job description.
Hello from the CEO!
Gregory D. Johnson
Commitment, Connection & Community Resource
   
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced the final smoke-free rule that will require all public housing agencies to implement smoke-free policies at their developments. The Smoke-Free Policy at Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority successfully rolled out months ahead of HUD Secretary Castro's announcement with collaboration from the staff, resident councils and community partners. All of CMHA sites, offices, vehicles and common areas are now smoke-free. The policy supports CMHA's commitment to providing affordable quality housing by creating healthier environments for residents and employees. And a reduction in unit turnover costs is expected. It's important to note, residents who smoke are not required to move but they have to smoke in designated areas.  
 
Also, creating entrepreneurial opportunities is a major component of the CMHA Mission. We have been working diligently to connect local WBEs, SBEs and Section 3 businesses with the right resources so they can effectively compete on future bids with CMHA as well as the City of Cincinnati. The efforts taken to educate contractors for RAD have not gone unnoticed; HUD recently nominated the agency as a Section 3 Best Practice honor. More information about Building for the Future can be found in the story below. 
 
And finally thank you to everyone who attended the Cary Crossing Ribbon Cutting Celebration. It was a beautiful fall day despite the chill that was in the air. Cary Crossing residents, Mt. Healthy officials, CMHA staff and many others heard from advocates of the affordable housing industry including Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune. He confirmed our motto of Being An Asset to Hamilton County with this statement, "This is not your father's CMHA. It's progressive and doing great things for the county." You can stay up to date on what's happening at CMHA by checking our website, following Cintimha on social media or contacting the Talk 2 Us line at (513) 721-CMHA (2642).

 
Kind Regards,   
 
 
Gregory D. Johnson, MS, PHM, EDEP
Chief Executive Officer
homelessvets      Housing Our Heroes 
CMHA and the Cincinnati VA are participating in the statewide Home for the Holidays push. The goal is to find affordable homes for 70 Veteran families. Ending Veteran homelessness has been an initiative of CMHA and the Cincinnati VA for years. Hundreds of Hamilton County Veterans and their families have secured housing via the HUD-VASH Program.
VASH is Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing and it helps Veterans lead independent lives. Participants and agency staff shared information about the VASH program in a recently created video: click here to watch it. And join us in meeting the challenge of Housing Our Heroes by calling the Cincinnati VA at (513) 977-6800.


webinarfuture  A Huge Success:  Building for the Future Webinar
Over 100 people joined The Building for the Future webinar sponsored by the City of Cincinnati Department of Economic Inclusion featuring CMHA Economic Inclusion Coordinator Robert Bell. The webinar for SBEs, WBEs and Section 3 businesses was held November 16, 2016 and focused on CMHA's multi-million dollar property rehabilitation project known as *RAD. Bell discussed the upcoming RAD procurement opportunities, CMHA inclusion strategies, specialized training for small contractors, match maker events, green business certification and more.

HUD's Acting Director for the Economic Opportunity Division Rafiq Munir reached out to Bell after learning about the seminar, "I was pleasantly surprised and enthused to learn about the great work you have undertaken on behalf of the CMHA as it pertains to the opportunities afforded by your RAD conversion activity." Munir said that HUD plans to share CMHA's Economic Inclusion Initiatives nationally and nominated the agency as a Section 3 Best Practice.

"It is quite a thrill for me to be part of Building for the Future", said Bell. "We started it as a local effort to educate and help prepare local contractors for RAD", he added "We never thought that it would generate the interest that it has on such a regional and national stage."
 
As a result of that nomination and the increased local and national demand to learn more about Building for the Future a second webinar will be held December 15, 2016 at 3pm. Public housing authorities around the country as well as area businesses are registering for the session. Click here to register for the webinar.
                               Business Owners watch webinar
Bell answers webinar questions
      

*RAD: Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) - is a program that preserves public housing by allowing access to alternate funding sources for repair & rehab and stable operational funding streams. CMHA has 7 approved Commitment of Housing Assistance Payments - CHAP: Baldwin Grove, Sutterview, Maple Tower, Beechwood, Evanston, San Marco and Riverview.

MasterRelo      We're Listening
CMHA is seeking comments on a Master Relocation Plan for properties undergoing conversion as part of the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program. CMHA will convert 628 public housing units as part of Phase I. The primary goal of RAD is to ensure residents have long-term quality housing available to them. Please take the time to read the Relocation Plan and provide any comments you may have. You can view the plan online or during normal business hours at the 1627 Western Avenue location. We want to hear from you; it will be available for review and comments through January 12, 2017.  
spotlight  Agency Spotlight:  Housing Choice Voucher Program

The Housing Choice Voucher program provides a subsidy to a private landlord that helps bridge the gap between what a family can afford to pay in rent, and the actual market rent. Our HCV program can provide housing assistance to over 11,600 low to moderate income families; including children, Veterans, the elderly and the disabled. Several enhancements to CMHA's HCV Program (formerly known as Section-8) have recently been implemented. Many of the changes were born from communication held with property owners and managers.

  • The RTA Express or the accelerated Request for Tenancy Approval process is in operation from 8:30am to 4pm.  Approved RTAs will be scheduled for inspection, whenever possible, within one to two business days of submission.
  • The RTA Portal is up and running; property owners and managers can visit the portal to track the status of RTAs that were submitted in the past 90 days.
  • Marketing Mondays is a bi-weekly event where landlords showcase available units to new voucher holders and current families looking to find new homes.
  • The 2017 Wait List opening will take place in January and families will have an opportunity to submit a pre-application online. 
  • HCV On The Move:  New outreach for current and new property owners is being developed to expand housing opportunities for Hamilton County families.

More information about the HCV Program can be found on the CMHA website or by calling the Customer Service line at (513) 977-5800.