Steve Wertheim, 211/First Call for Help at 216/436-2225
Brian Davis, NEOCH at 216/432-0540
For Immediate Release: September 12, 2006
For More Information, Call: Nina Fedele from Socialserve.com at 877-428-8844
CLEVELAND, OHIO
An innovative new housing database launched last winter has not only improved access to locally available affordable housing but has also been recognized for its responsiveness and effectiveness by a major national housing organization.
Nine months ago, the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) joined forces with a coalition of local non-profit agencies, such as the United Way’s 211/First Call for Help and Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homelessin an effort to end homelessness in Cuyahoga County. Through this collaboration of 14 agencies, a web based housing listing is available to everyone in Cuyahoga County with a call center available to help.
The website currently averages over 1,000 searches a day and already boasts a database of over 1,800 available rental properties for prospective tenants. HousingCleveland.org is set up as a free service to anyone in need of housing assistance, landlords wanting to list their available housing and organizations trying to place their clients in housing. The early impact of the site has brought CMHA an Award for Merit in Housing and Community Development from the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) at the association’s annual summer conference.
The NAHRO Merit Award recognizes “outstanding innovation and achievement in housing and community development programs throughout the country.” The successful launch of the service has greatly strengthened CMHA's ability to service its clientele. " The website has additional features we were not able to provide in the past," said Cathy Pennington, Deputy Executive Director for the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority. "It has a bilingual call center, there is a toll free number for people to call and the listing notes units that are handicap accessible."
From its inception, HousingCleveland.org was intended to assist both housing choice voucher (formerly Section 8 voucher) families and all low-income families. In a county where almost 13,000 families are on one of the Housing Authorities waiting lists and according to a recently released report by the U.S. Census over 225,000 people are living below the federal poverty level, the need for affordable housing invariably exceeds the resources to meet it.
“We use the website everyday in order to help our constituents locate housing,” said Brian Davis, Director of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless. “HousingCleveland.org allows homeless people to move into permanent housing more quickly in a system that is overcrowded on the best day.” Since its launch in November 2005, HousingCleveland.org has logged over 250,000 searches.
Socialserve.com, Cuyahoga County's contracted site designer and manager, is responsible for maintaining the website and updating its property listings on a daily basis. In addition, SCK, a visual marketing firm located in Tremont developed the local web design of HousingCleveland.org. In an effort to provide anyone in search of housing the most accurate information possible, landlords are required to update their listings once every 14 days. Families in search of housing may also call Socialserve.com’s bilingual call center to receive a customized listing of properties matching their specific search criteria.
"The Socialserve.com unit listing program is an extremely valuable tool in assisting our program participants with a successful housing search,” said Pennington. “With Socialserve.com's staff assistance, the website was functioning in a surprisingly short period of time." The website was funded by Cuyahoga County through the Department of Employment and Family Services.
Cuyahoga residents in search of housing can access the website at www.housingcleveland.org or can call 211 for more information. Landlords can list their properties for free using the website or they may call the toll free call center at 877-428-8844.
About Socialserve.com:
Socialserve.com is a non-profit organization that partners with public and private housing agencies across the country to provide a listing and locating service for affordable housing. They work closely with each state to develop a site that will cater to the needs of the people in that state. Sites are developed in partnership between the local housing authorities, Socialserve.com, and other local community resources. At present, Socialserve.com has developed websites for housing authorities in 15 different states and expects to expand its services into (#?) this year. They also offer each state access to a toll free, bilingual call center to help tenants search for housing and help landlords list and update their property listings.
Partnering Agencies:
211/First Call For Help (a program of United Way of Greater Cleveland)
Bridging the Gap (a program of Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless)
Cleveland Tenants Organization
Cleveland/Cuyahoga County Office of Homeless Services
Cleveland Department of Community Development
Cleveland State University Center for Neighborhood Development
Cuyahoga County Department of Development
Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA)
EDEN (Emerald Development and Economic Network)
Legal Aid Society of Cleveland
Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry
Maximum Independent Living
May Dugan Center
Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless
