The allocation of funds, which are subject to change, currently are:

Affordable housing

Incentive program: $1 million
Blighted home acquisition $300,000
Expanded OOR program: $200,000

United Way Homelessness Initiative program implementation

Rental Assistance and Homeless Response: $50,000
Supportive Housing: $300,000
Eviction Prevention: $75,000
Street Social Worker program: $75,000
Columbus City Council members voted again to appropriate nearly $2 million dollars for homelessness and affordable housing initiatives.

They the second reading of an ordinance, directing the remaining balance of the city’s American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds—totaling $1.97 million— to the initiatives.

However, due to a mistake in advertising the public hearing associated with the appropriation, the council will be requred to pass it on second reading again during a meeting on Dec. 17, Council President Frank Miller, R-District 5, said.

Council Members Jerone Wood, R-District 3, and Kent Anderson, R-District 5, were absent from Tuesday’s meeting.

City officials are planning to designate $1.5 million towards affordable housing development and $500,000 for implementation of United Way of Bartholomew County’s Homelessness Initiative.

Columbus received $8 million in ARP funds in total, Mayor Mary Ferdon said. The federal government requires that the funding be committed by the end of this year and spent by the end of 2026.

The $1.5 million is targeted for programs which were identified as potential remedies for affordable housing concerns mentioned in the city’s recently released housing study, completed by RDG Planning & Design.

Affordable housing

The bulk of the affordable housing funding, totaling roughly $1 million, is for an incentive program to help finance more affordable housing projects that use federal grant or tax credit funding.

The program would work in conjunction with the Administrative Resources association (ARa). According to city officials, $10,000 would be provided per unit of affordable housing that is developed for low to moderate income households, specified as those with household incomes at 80% or less of area median income (AMI), which is $72,000.

According to a memo sent to council by Eric Frey, executive director of administration, there would be a potential maximum award of $500,000 dollars, which city officials said would be reserved for a large-scale development.

Another strategy is the institution of a blighted home acquisition program, potentially set to receive about $300,000. The city would use funding for the purchase, renovation and demolition of blighted homes and look to partner with the Columbus Housing Authority (CHA) to try to activate some of their Section 8 vouchers.

CHA would work with community development to find and acquire sites to expand CHA’s scatter sites under Section 8. Scatter sites refer to public housing that is spread across a city, instead of being centrally located.

The final affordable housing program mentioned in the memo to potentially receive $200,000 in funding would be an expanded owner-occupied rehab (OOR) program for accessibility improvements, along with interior and exterior upgrades.

Homelessness

The $500,000 for the homelessness initiative could go to four different programs — rental assistance and homeless response, supportive housing, eviction prevention and a street social worker program.

The rental assistance and homeless response effort, earmarked for about $50,000, would provide some funds to those at risk of being homeless “in the next 14 days” or to re-house someone who has been homeless.

City officials said $75,000 could fund an eviction prevention program “to proactively help those people facing eviction or foreclosure.” The program would include eviction counseling and would have an element where someone would complete training through a partnership with local organizations like Love Chapel and receive rental assistance.

The Street Social Worker program is already being piloted due to council’s April appropriation and about $75,000 would continue to fund it. The program is designed to “meet people who are homeless where they are” and “would create trust-based relationships in trying to get people into permanent housing.”

The largest portion of homelessness initiative funding of $300,000 would fund some type of supportive housing, according to the memo.

During a community input session organized by United Way regarding the homelessness initiative in late November, Felipe Martinez, pastor, First Presbyterian Church, said there may be more information to come about supportive housing next year.

According to the pastor, the housing committee at First Presbyterian Church has partnered with “an experienced non-profit developer” who will lead a team, including community partners, and apply for funds from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) to help with financing of a potential supportive housing facility.

If funds are ultimately approved, it would mean the creation of permanent supportive housing units in Columbus “in the next couple of years,” Martinez said, adding that he’d likely have more information sometime at the beginning of 2025.
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