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COHHIO Projects
OhioVOTES is a new year-round, statewide, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) voter mobilization initiative. It galvanizes nonprofits based in low income Ohio communities to increase voter participation and join efforts for fair elections. It builds on the relationships these nonprofits already have with their base of clients and residents. Unlike other groups who show up only during the election season, our network of housing providers, nonprofit health centers, multi-service centers, food pantries, community action, and homeless programs are well placed and trusted; they can help the people they regularly serve exercise their right to vote and stay engaged in the civic debate.
Key Features:
- On-site customized voter participation training;
- Website resource center for voting guidelines and fact sheets (www.ohvotes.org);
- Distribution of GOTV and voter education materials,
- Immediate, personalized telephone response to voter-related questions.
Visit OhioVOTES website to learn how you can strengthen your community by increasing civic participation. Or call 614-280-1984 (ext. 23) and talk to Jocelyn Travis, OhioVOTES director (jocelyntravis@cohhio.org).
The COHHIO
Youth Empowerment Program (YEP)
Meeting the Needs of Homeless Children and Youth
Our Mission: YEP will empower youth by increasing opportunities for them
to take control of their situations while building self-esteem and improving
their quality of life through advocacy, leadership and education. There
are more than 60,000 children and youth that will experience homelessness
in Ohio this year. YEP is a statewide council of homeless youth (12- 21)
that have joined together to improve the lives of these children. Through
YEP, homeless youth become active community members and productive citizens
by participating in community service, leadership training, and advocacy
activities. These youth put their own ideas into action and are able to
make significant changes to local state and national policies. Recent
successes include: Changing policies in family shelters to admit teenagers,
assisting a local shelter to build a safer building with improved services
for children and teens, partnering with national organizations to increase
homeless education funding, and participating in over 1,000 community
services hours this year alone. Over the past three years, 11 YEP state
council members have graduated from High School, and 4 have gotten their
GED’s. Of those, 6 have gone on to attend college. Two YEP youth
have received National Awards for their individual contributions to the
needs of homeless children. If you would like more information on YEP
or to order a YEP VIDEO, please email Angela Lariviere at angelalariviere@cohhio.org.
Ohio
Community Reinvestment Project. The Ohio Community Reinvestment Project
(OCRP) focuses on issues related to fair housing and fair lending. More
specifically, the project works to address barriers to fair housing choice
such as mortgage lending discrimination and abusive or predatory mortgage
lending practices. The project also encourages financial institutions
to reinvest in low-income and minority communities and to build stronger
relationships with the non-profit housing sector. To date, OCRP has received
funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s
Fair Housing Initiatives Program to conduct education and outreach activities
related to fair housing choice. OCRP has also entered into cooperative
agreements with some of Ohio's largest financial institutions, such as
Charter One Bank, Fifth Third Bank, and Firstar Bank which include more
than $2 billion in commitments for lending, investments and services for
low and moderate-income Ohioans and people of color. For
more information on the OCRP Project, click here.
Section
8 Preservation. There are about 1,300 properties with 83,000 units
providing affordable housing for some of Ohio's lowest income households.
The 20 year Section 8 contracts on these properties have begun to expire
or will expire over the next few years. Most of these properties are owned
by for-profit businesses who have fewer incentives to renew the Section
8 contracts and may opt-out of the program and rent the units at market
rates or may choose to sell the properties. COHHIO is educating diverse
populations
including tenants, community groups, financial institutions, state and
local government officials, and property owners about this issue. The
OTAG Program provides for outreach and training around those properties
with expiring Section 8 contracts in which rents are above the Fair Market
Rent (FMR) and therefore eligible for the Mark-to-Market Program.To obtain
a list of Section 8 Properties in your contact or for more information
on the OTAG project, please email
Spencer Wells. To
see a copy of the report, "Empowering Tenants with OTAG-ITAG- VISTA:
Accomplishments and Recommendations Report - 2002," click
here.
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