Nationwide Children’s Hospital received a $5 million grant from the Columbus City Council to support the creation of affordable housing in the Linden neighborhood.
The money will be directed towards Healthy Homes, the affordable housing wing of Nationwide Children's Hospital, which aims to address the pressing need for affordable housing in the area.
The $5 million will come from the 2023 Capital Improvement Budget's Affordable Housing Bond fund.
Healthy Homes plans to develop approximately two dozen affordable homes, specifically for families earning up to 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI) in Linden.
These homes will be a mix of new construction and rehabilitated units, designed to blend seamlessly into the existing neighborhood and provide high-quality living environments for low-income families.
In addition to safe and affordable housing, tenants will have access to a comprehensive suite of supportive services. These services include health care, educational programs, workforce development and life skills training.
Healthy Homes has hired a full-time tenant services coordinator who will help link residents with necessary health and social service providers, as well as Nationwide Children’s Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families (HNHF) programming.
The tenant services coordinator will work to connect families with essential resources, including financial literacy programs, parenting classes, mental health services and more. These services are designed to promote self-sufficiency and improve the overall wellbeing of the residents.
On their website, Healthy Homes says their mission is “providing and preserving affordable housing through the provision of homeownership, rental and home repair services in two Columbus communities, the South Side and Linden.”
Since 2008, the initiative has built or repaired over 400 houses on Columbus’ South Side, and in 2019, they began creating and repairing homes in Linden.
