Welcome to COHHIO Advocacy
Advocacy is the active promotion of a mission. At COHHIO, our advocacy efforts are focused on ending homelessness, striving for decent, safe, fair, affordable hoursing for all, with a focus on assisting low-income people and those with special needs.
Our issue campaigns utilize a three-pronged approach: We motivate advocates, educate legislators, and activate the media. Following this effective formula over the years, COHHIO’s advocacy efforts have resulted in: Inclusion of housing as a public purpose in the Ohio Constitution, the birth of the Ohio Housing Trust Fund, dedication of a source of revenue for the Ohio Housing Trust Fund, protection for consumers against predatory mortgage lending, and the capping of interest rates on short term payday loans, among many others.
None of these policy changes would have been possible without the support of dedicated advocates from around the state.
We invite you to join us!
There are many ways you can participate in COHHIO’s advocacy efforts. Get to know your state and federal policy makers. If you are a provider, call and make an appointment to talk with them about your agency and what services you provide in the community. Become a trusted and valuable resource to your lawmaker by offering to help constitutents in need of housing or housing information. Click here to find your state representative or your state senator.
Finally, if one of your constituents has a story that illustrates the importance of your program, please help them share it though Ohio Speaks. Click HERE to learn more about OhioSPEAKS from representatives of partner agencies.
If you’re interested in housing issues and would like to receive our action and information alerts, Join Our Advocacy Network! We are gearing up for the next challenge, and we need your help. A cooperative grassroots effort can help bring homelessness and housing issues to the attention of policymakers and bring a better future for our constituents. Remember, we are most effective as a team! Please download the form and sign up today.
In the last state budget, we won! Thanks to the tireless efforts of advocates across the state, the Ohio Housing Trust Fund has been restored to its $53 million appropriation level.
Click here to learn more about this important funding source that helps serve Ohio’s most critical homeless and affordable housing needs.
Summaries of recent advocacy efforts are found on our Issues Archives page.