Everyone Deserves a Place to Call Home

Imagine working full-time, doing everything right, and still not being able to afford a place to live.  Imagine receiving a rent increase that exceeds your monthly income budget. Or having to choose between paying for medication and paying for housing.

For too many of our neighbors in Greater Cincinnati, these aren’t hypothetical situations–they’re daily realities.  So many of our neighbors are one unexpected expense away from losing their homes. A car repair. A medical bill. A reduction in work hours. When housing is already consuming most of a family’s income, even a small crisis can quickly spiral into homelessness. 

That’s why affordable housing is not just a housing issue. It’s a homelessness issue.  

In fact, the lack of affordable housing is one of the strongest predictors of homelessness in communities across the country. As housing costs rise and affordable options disappear, more families find themselves at risk of eviction, forced to move frequently, doubled up with relatives, living in cars, or entering emergency shelter systems. 

The numbers paint a sobering picture. 

Ohio faces a shortage of more than 264,000 affordable rental homes for extremely low-income households. In the Cincinnati metropolitan area, there are only about 32 affordable and available homes for every 100 extremely low-income renter households seeking them. The gap between what people earn and what housing costs continues to widen, leaving many working families struggling to stay housed.  

According to the Ohio Housing Finance Agency‘s latest Housing Needs Assessment, rents continue to increase faster than incomes, placing more Ohio households at risk of eviction and homelessness. Recent housing reports also show that nearly half of renters nationwide are considered housing cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing. 

Behind every statistic is a person. 

It’s the senior living on a fixed income whose rent increases faster than her Social Security check. It’s the family with children who are forced to move multiple times during a school year because they cannot find an affordable apartment. It’s the young adult aging out of foster care who discovers that entry-level wages don’t come close to covering market rent. And it’s the thousands of households across Hamilton County who are working hard every day but finding it increasingly difficult to keep a roof over their heads. 

The good news is that homelessness is preventable. 

When families receive timely rental assistance, eviction prevention support, housing navigation services, and access to affordable housing, they can remain stably housed. We see these successes every day. A relatively small intervention at the right moment can prevent a family from entering homelessness altogether.  

That’s why your support matters. 

Every donation helps connect households to resources that keep them housed, prevent homelessness before it begins, and create pathways to long-term stability. It helps ensure that when a family faces a housing crisis, there is somewhere to turn. 

Housing is the foundation for everything else–health, education, employment, and opportunity. 

When people have a safe, stable place to live, they can focus on building a future rather than simply surviving another day. Together, we can make sure more of our neighbors have that chance.  The affordable housing crisis can feel overwhelming, but solutions exist. By supporting homelessness prevention programs, advocating for affordable housing, and sharing information, you can help create lasting change for families across our community. 

Thank you for standing with us in the fight to end homelessness in Greater Cincinnati.