homelessness

In Jefferson County, community members are working to help unhoused people, after its homeless shelters closed three months ago.

The Community Shelter Board conducted its annual Point-in-Time homeless count on Thursday.

Ross is now the chair of the council's Housing, Homelessness and Building committee and vice chair of the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee. She said her first year will include a lot of listening sessions held throughout the community.

Columbus City Council approved legislation that will provide funding to support warming shelters for homeless people during extreme winter weather.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development capped funds for programs that house formerly homeless people at 30% of their previous allocation.

The Community Shelter Board is still finalizing funding, but plans to start the winter with the same number of beds and warming sites as it did last year.

Marc Conte, who is the executive director of the downtown Columbus special improvement district, or SID, accused the mayor of mounting a pressure campaign on downtown property owners to remove their support for both SIDs, which rely on voluntary taxes from property owners to operate.

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner and Ohio's two U.S. Senators, Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted, toured two Columbus locations on Friday. The three say the government should take less of a role in addressing the nationwide housing shortage.

Last month, the non-profit Star House purchased St. Ladislas Church in south Columbus to turn it into a drop-in center for homeless youth. St. Ladislas has been vacant since 2023.

Last fall, Newark promised to create a diversion program from those charged with a misdemeanor crime for sleeping outside. Its HOME Court program is now in full swing.