Shelter is essential for all of us and the Housing First program, offered through the Cleveland Housing Network (CHN), provides that basic necessity for people with special needs. Since 2002, Housing First-a coalition of public and private organizations-has built or renovated more than 470 homes in Cuyahoga County for people with histories of long-term homelessness and disabilities. That number will more than double in the next several years.
Recently, however, Housing First ran into a snag in its progress: they needed to purchase a building they were rehabbing at West 95th Street and Lorain Avenue, but their timing was off. First, they were required by federal regulations to complete an environmental review of the property. Time was running out; their purchase options were about to expire-before the environmental review was complete-and CHN would lose their chance to purchase the building for Housing First.
Enter the Cuyahoga Land Bank, which stepped in as interim owner and bought the building on CHN’s behalf for $360,000. A few months later, CHN received the tax credit allocation that allowed them to move forward with the project.