Explanation
BACKGROUND
This legislation authorizes the Director of the Department of Development to execute grant agreements with not-for-profit social service agencies for the Resilient Housing Initiative (RHI). See attached Exhibit A for the list of seven not-for-profit social services agencies included in this ordinance. The total amount awarded to these agencies is $965,250.00 The period of performance of each Grant Agreement shall be a 12-month period beginning April 1, 2026 and thus authorization to pay for expenditures beginning prior to the purchase order is also requested with this legislation beginning April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2027.
It is the priority of the City to increase housing stability by helping residents stay housed and prevent displacement. Housing Stability is vital to our lives, contributing to social connection, health, and prosperity. Lack thereof contributes to disconnection, poor health outcomes, economic distress and-in the most critical situations-homelessness. The region is experiencing a housing crisis: our residents face rising rents, record rates of eviction, a lack of affordable housing, and an overburdened homeless shelter system. With these current realities, investing in homelessness prevention can limit housing crisis damage and relieve the impacts of emergency shelter stays.
Federal Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA2) ended September 30, 2025, leaving infrastructure in place to continue providing eviction and homelessness prevention to vulnerable residents of Columbus. The Resilient Housing Initiative (RHI) will continue homelessness prevention services through funding from the Department of Development Division of Housing Stability’s general fund budget. The program includes housing crisis coaching, financial assistance, and housing-focused case management. RHI Service Providers will support eligible participants through each step of the program. The RHI Service Provider opportunity was made available to agencies...
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