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Mark McDermott
Vice President and Ohio Impact Market Leader
Enterprise |
Welcome to the first issue of Ohio Report, a quarterly update about Enterprise’s Ohio impact market. We started this newsletter to keep you up to date on our housing and community development work in Cleveland, Columbus and throughout the state.
As you read these stories of new beginnings and successful endings, you will see that Enterprise remains focused on our customers’ needs and on bringing new resources, products and services to benefit the communities we serve. As always, it's our partnerships with you that make all of this possible.
I hope you enjoy reading Ohio Report. Your thoughts and feedback are always welcome.
A new Enterprise program that helps multifamily property owners go green – and pay for it – is getting underway. The Ohio Green Communities Retrofit Fund provides loans to multifamily owners for energy-reducing capital purchases identified through energy audits. This fund, supported by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency and the Cleveland Foundation, targets older affordable housing, including tax credit properties that are in Year 10 or older.
Learn more about green retrofit financing and solutions available from Enterprise Green Communities.
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| Construction of a 70-unit supportive housing community (shown above) in Cleveland’s Euclid Corridor will get under way this summer. Cleveland Housing Network and EDEN, Inc. are developing the property and Mental Health Services will provide supportive services to residents as part of the Housing First initiative to end chronic homelessness in Cuyahoga County. |
Ohio – one of the states hardest hit by foreclosures – is serving as a testing ground for new foreclosure response programs, and Enterprise and its partners are leading the way with new solutions.
- Opportunity Housing Phase I finished its first year in Cleveland with a solid record of home sales, proving that a market still exits for quality rehabilitation in hard-hit neighborhoods. Opportunity Housing acquired 43 vacant homes and helped 44 households avert foreclosure through modified mortgages. This unique partnership of Neighborhood Progress, Inc. and Cleveland Housing Network will use federal NSP-2 funds to expand its products to include new construction green bungalows on vacant land from recently demolished sites in 2011.
- The Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corporation and its partners were awarded nearly $41 million in February through NSP-2. The funds will be used to acquire, rehabilitate and resell more than 200 Cleveland-area foreclosed or abandoned properties, and provide loans to low-income homebuyers.
- Additionally, the Columbus-Franklin County Consortium received $23 million in NSP-2 funds to rehabilitate or build 320 homes for low- and moderate-income families.
Learn more about Enterprise’s efforts to reverse the decline of neighborhoods affected by foreclosure.
Some of Ohio’s leading foreclosure experts joined 150 of their peers from across the country at Living Cities’ Neighborhood Stabilization Boot Camp, held at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in March. The unique three-day session focused on identifying ways to scale up neighborhood stabilization activities in the wake of the national foreclosure crisis.
Participants from Cleveland included Rob Curry of the Cleveland Housing Network, Gus Frangos from the Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corp., Frank Ford from Neighborhood Progress, Inc., John Wilbur from the Cleveland Department of Community Development, Blaine Brockman of the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, Robert Klein from Safeguard Properties and Mark McDermott from Enterprise. They joined 11 other teams who are currently leading federally funded neighborhood stabilization efforts in their cities and states.
The Enterprise-led Earned Income Tax Credit Coalition has provided free tax preparation services to more than 33,000 low-income taxpayers in the Cleveland area, generating more than $40 million in refunds in the last five years – and financial relief for families who need it most. United Way of Greater Cleveland and Cuyahoga County have steadily funded the coalition.
With new funding from Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the coalition expanded its volunteer base in 2010 and increased the number of low-income households served to 8,000, resulting in $10 million in refunds. IRS funding proved critical with several tax law changes in 2009. The coalition will also partner with other agencies this year to expand services residents of Lucas, Lorain, Ottawa and Wood counties in Ohio.
The AWARE Manual (Accessible, Water Conservation, Air Quality, Resource Conscious, Energy Efficient), based on the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria for affordable housing, describes specific green rehabilitation standards and sample specifications for developers, contractors and other partners.
- Aug. 6, 2010: Buckeye Area Development Corporation’s 40th Anniversary.
Location: “The Art Park,” East 118th and Buckeye Road, Cleveland.
Contact: Rose Brown at 216.491.8450 for more information.
- Oct. 13-15, 2010: Reclaiming Vacant Properties conference.
Location: Renaissance Cleveland Hotel, Cleveland.
Register and get more information.
- Oct. 30, 2010: Famicos Foundation’s 40th anniversary celebration.
Location: The Silver Grille, 1515 West Third Street, Cleveland.
Contact Amy Eiben at 216.791.6476 for more information.
- . Angelina supports Enterprise’s Ohio operations with her expertise in database maintenance, contract processing and event coordination. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Cleveland State University.
- . Robert, a law student at Case Western Reserve University, coordinates support for the Ohio Green Communities initiative, and represents Enterprise in a city-wide green retrofit effort.
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