Volume 9, Issue 4 / May 2, 2018
OCDCA News
Empowering Communities RFP Now Open
OCDCA and the CareSource Foundation are launching the Empowering Communities Grant Challenge. The Empowering Communities Grant Challenge will provide funding for innovative solutions to unique community challenges that involve the social determinants of health. Applications are due this Friday, May 4, 2018, by 4 PM EST. 
OCDCA Members! Give Us Your Thoughts
As our membership grows and changes each year, we like to ask you, our member, what you are doing and how we can better serve your organization. Members, would you please take just 10 minutes to complete this brief survey? As a thank you for taking a moment out of your day, you will be entered into a drawing to win a free conference registration to OCDCA's 34th Annual Conference in Columbus on October 3-5, 2018.
Ohio Microbusiness Summit
Join us for a day of informative sessions, discussion, and networking with microbusiness program providers throughout the state.  If your organization has an existing microbusiness development program or if you want to learn more about microbusiness development in Ohio, don't miss this summit! 

Featured Speaker, Gary Schoeniger  Founder & CEO of the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative. Gary is the co-author of Who Owns the Ice House? Eight Life Lessons from an Unlikely EntrepreneurIn addition to the guest speaker, the agenda will include networking and a tour of ECDI's Women's Business Center and the Food Commissary. This event is free to attend and lunch will be provided.
Event and Date
Location Registration
Ohio Microbusiness Summit
May 17, 2018
9:30 AM - 3:00 PM
ECDI
1655 Old Leonard Avenue
Columbus, OH 43219
Register Here!
The Ohio Microbusiness Summits are supported by Citizens Bank.

Harnessing the Forces of Gentrification to Improve your Neighborhood
For years, communities working to improve their economy have struggled with the forces of gentrification. In this workshop, we will explore how to define and measure gentrification, and practical tools to promote inclusive neighborhood development.

Presenters for this training are Brian Higgins of Parsons Area Redevelopment Corporation and Mark Barbash. This event is free to attend. Attendees will have lunch on their own.
Event and Date
Location Registration
Harnessing the Forces of Gentrification to Improve your Neighborhood
June 7, 2018
10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Ohio CDC Association
100 E. Broad Street, 6th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Register Here!
The Intersection of Land Banks and Community Development
This training will outline the effective collaboration between CDCs and land banks to allow for the highest impact in communities. While both CDCs and land banks are effective tools for revitalization, the collaboration between these organizations can create a larger impact in the communities most in need. 

Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership will be presenting. They will offer best practices in approaching land banks to create strong successful partnerships, successes and failures in managing a land bank, and how land banks and CDCs can work together to ensure that residents are involved in the future of their neighborhoods.
Event and Date
Location Registration
The Intersection of Land Banks and Community Development
June 19, 2018
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Webinar  Register Here!
Building Community Together
Save the Date! #cdcOhio18 is in Columbus October 3-5, 2018!
Join us this October in the Capitol City at the Westin Columbus Downtown as we explore all of the work going on in the Arch City. Read more here. Follow the excitement on Twitter with #cdcohio18.

If you are interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at the conference, please contact Lisa Much .
Member News
Welcome New Members!
Colozza Development Team in Cleveland and Mount Auburn Community Housing Development Organization in Cincinnati join OCDCA as our newest 2018 members. Welcome!
JFK High School students spend day helping clean up Warren
"It's beneficial for our city and it's beneficial for the students also to see that they can take a little bit of their time and they can make a large impact here in our city," said Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership Community Outreach Coordinator Denise Rising. Read more...
A day at the Chesterhill Produce Auction
Second graders from West Elementary School get a taste for what a produce auction is like during School Day at the Chesterhill Produce Auction, put on by Rural Action. Read more...
Remember Slavic Village? It's Back
A Cleveland neighborhood made famous as an epicenter of the foreclosure crisis, works its way back to stability, with leadership from Slavic Village Development. Read more...
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. 
Partner News
Report Shows Gap in Affordable Housing for Low-Income Ohioans
Ohio has a severe shortage of homes that are affordable to poor Ohioans, according to a recent report. The National Low Income Housing Coalition's (NHLIC) latest Gap Report found only 42 rental units are affordable and available for every 100 extremely low-income tenant households in Ohio. That means 68 percent of the state's 450,759 poorest families are spending over half their income on rent. The Coalition on Housing and Homelessness in Ohio ( COHHIO), along with members of the Home Matters to Ohio coalition, is calling on state leaders to expand the Ohio Housing Trust Fund, the primary source of state funding for homeless services and affordable housing development and rehabilitation. The Housing Trust Fund also funds home repair and accessibility upgrades that help keep low-income seniors and disabled Ohioans in their own homes. The average renter in Ohio earns $12.87/hour, which is less than the $15/hour needed to afford a basic two-bedroom apartment, according to a separate NLIHC report. Advocates across the country are hosting the Our Homes, Our Voices National Housing Week of Action on May 1-8 to bring attention to the severe shortage of affordable homes and urge increased investments in solutions.
OACAA State of Poverty in Ohio Report
The Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies ( OACAA) recently released the 2017 State of Poverty in Ohio Report. The report not only looks at the big picture trends across the state, it also includes county level data to provide specific information for different areas in Ohio. 
AmeriCorps VISTA Spotlight
April was an important month for the OCDCA VISTA program, because the bulk of the work of recruiting was completed. Hundreds of applications came in for Summer Associate and year-long VISTA assignments, and most sites have selected their candidate! Congratulations to the newly selected VISTAs, and a special thanks to those who chose to re-enroll for a second year. If you feel your site could benefit from participation in the VISTA program, now is a great time to start thinking about the 2019 VISTA year. Contact Alana Perez if you'd like to learn more about VISTA.
Events
Online registration for the Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group's ( PCRG) 2018 Community Development Summit is open now through EventBrite! At each Summit, they have a number of keynote speakers, time for networking, mobile tours, and sessions that are relevant to practitioners of community development. This year, sessions will focus on equity in housing, development, and re-use of land; equity in economic development; access to capital, banking, and financing; engagement and community outreach; and transportation, sustainability, and mobility.
What if you could make as much money as possible out of your fundraising events? What if each event your organization stages is as profitable - and fun - as you hoped? Why go to all that trouble if you are not making tons of money? Join Heritage Ohio for a webinar on May 3rd.
Join the Council for Rural Housing & Development of Ohio on May 14-16 for their annual summit. Register here.
Funding Opportunities
Transit Planning 4 All
The project's goal is to support communities nationwide in adopting proven, sustainable, scalable, and replicable models that include participation of people with disabilities and older adults in the design and implementation of coordinated transportation systems that are responsive to their needs. Deadline is May 4.
USDA Local Food Promotion Program
LFPP offers grant funds with a 25% match to increase domestic consumption of and access to locally and regionally produced agricultural products, and to develop new market opportunities for farm and ranch operations serving local markets, by: developing, improving, expanding, and providing outreach, training, and technical assistance to Local and Regional Food Business Enterprises, or assisting in the development, improvement, and expansion of Local and Regional Food Business Enterprises. Deadline is May 7.
USDA Farmers Market Promotion Program
The purpose of the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) is to increase domestic consumption of, and access to, locally and regionally produced agricultural products, and to develop new market opportunities for farm and ranch operations serving local markets by developing, improving, expanding, and providing outreach, training, and technical assistance to, or assisting in the development, improvement, and expansion of, domestic farmers markets, roadside stands, community-supported agriculture programs, agritourism activities, and other direct producer-to-consumer market opportunities. Deadline is May 7.
USDA RD Community Connect Grants
This program helps fund broadband deployment into rural communities where it is not yet economically viable for private sector providers to deliver service. Deadline is May 14.
Refugee Family Child Care Microenterprise Development Program
ORR will provide funding for applicants which, through internal capacity and partnerships, will provide refugee participants with training and technical assistance in professional child care, microenterprise development, and financial literacy; assist refugee participants in navigating the child care licensing process; and provide direct financial assistance as needed to enable participants to prepare their homes for child care business operation. Deadline is May 15.
Foundation for Improvement of Justice
The foundation's mission is to recognize innovative and effective works and/or programs whose efforts have made positive influential differences in the United States criminal and civil judicial arenas.  Deadline is May 15.
AARP Community Challenge 2018
The AARP Community Challenge funds projects that build momentum for local change to improve livability for all residents. Deadline is May 16.
Employment Opportunities
Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation , Cincinnati, is seeking an Executive Director.

Asian Services in Action , Akron/Cleveland, is seeking a Chief Executive Officer .

View more employment opportunities on our website.  Organizations with employment opportunities in community development may send their notices for free posting to  Lisa Much .
State News
Ohio House Committee Votes to Move Payday Loan Reform Bill Forward

Full House, Senate Must Act To Enact These Fair, Overdue Reforms

Ohioans for Payday Loan Reform applauded the Ohio House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee for recently voting 9-1 to send House Bill 123 on to the full House for a vote. If it becomes law, HB 123 would make vast improvements to the payday lending landscape in Ohio.

Committee members voted overwhelmingly in favor of the bill as introduced more than a year ago by Reps. Kyle Koehler, R-Springfield, and Mike Ashford, D-Toledo. "It has been a long, difficult road to get this bill through committee,'' said Springfield Pastor Carl Ruby, one of the coalition's leaders. "I thank the majority of committee members who finally saw how much this will help hundreds of thousands of Ohio families trapped in debt and save them millions of dollars each year. "But I especially want to thank Reps. Koehler and Ashford, who have demonstrated a sustained tenacity in working on this vital effort to protect Ohio residents,'' said Ruby. "It's not been easy in the face of payday lenders' well-heeled lobbying efforts.''

Coalition leaders also acknowledged Rep. Kirk Schuring, who had worked on amendments to HB 123 but, ultimately, agreed that the original bill should be voted on. "We might not have agreed with everything Rep. Schuring was working on, but we believe his heart was in the right place,'' said David Thomas, a coalition leader from Ashtabula County.

It is important that the full House move quickly to approve the bill and send it on to the Senate, said coalition leader Nate Coffman of the Ohio CDC Association. "We can't let them forget that in the first year this bill was stalled in committee, it cost Ohioans an estimated $75 million,'' said Coffman. "The full House and the Senate can't let that happen any longer. We encourage them to act swiftly in the best interests of all Ohioans.'' Ohio has the dubious distinction of having the highest lending rates in the nation, with typical annual percentage rates on payday loans approaching 600%. OCDCA asks that members contact their Ohio House members over the next couple of weeks to encourage them to support passage of HB 123. Thank you for your advocacy. If you have any questions please contact Nate Coffman at ncoffman@ohiocdc.org or 614-461-6392 x 207.
Ohio Opportunity Zone Census Tracts Approved
The U.S. Treasury Department and IRS have announced Opportunity Zone designations in 20 states including Ohio. Enterprise's webinar Analyzing Opportunity Zone Nominations and What States Should Do Next is an excellent resource. The IRS also published FAQs and an invitation to comment. Here are links to Ohio's Opportunity Zones census tracts and map.
Federal News
Budget Rescission Request that Could Delay Funding for HOME and CDBG
Recently approved FY 2018 funding for programs like HOME, CDBG, and Section 4 could be at risk as the Trump Administration considers sending Congress a $30-$60 billion rescission request that would cut federal spending. While Congress is unlikely to accept cuts to spending bills that they have already passed, HUD and other federal agencies would not be able to use appropriated funds for 45 days while Congress considers the Administration's proposal. These delays would be felt most significantly by states and localities, who will be unable to use the federal funds.
FHFA Issues Correction and Extends Comment Period for Proposed Rule Amending Federal Home Loan Banks' Affordable Housing Program Regulation
Due to the high level of interest and stakeholder requests, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is extending the comment period for the Agency's proposed rule to amend the Federal Home Loan Banks' Affordable Housing Program by 30 days. Comments on the proposed rule, including on the amended language, must be received by June 12, 2018 and should be submitted via FHFA.gov or in accordance with the directions provided in the Federal Register notice extending the comment period.

Proposed Rule (published March 14, 2018)
Extension and Correction to Proposed Rule (text as sent to Federal Register)

For more information, visit the Affordable Housing and Community Investment page, or email DHMG.HCI@fhfa.gov.
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