Greater Cincinnati Coalition For The Homeless

EDUCATION: The Coalition connects more people with its advocacy efforts through education of the general public, community leaders and local officials. Partnering with individuals who have experienced or are experiencing homelessness, who share their stories to put a face on homelessness and raise awareness about those struggling in our community, our SPEAKERS' BUREAU reaches many different people of all ages in schools, universities, faith communities, civic associations, businesses, service providers, etc.. The CINCINNATI URBAN EXPERIENCE is a 3-7 day immersive alternative break program for high school and college students. The SOCIAL JUSTICE WALKING TOUR travels through the streets, alleys and parks of Over-The-Rhine and clarifies the meaning and direction of decades of neglect and how the priorities of today's investments have caused displacement, loss of affordable housing and homelessness. The Coalition offers several more educational opportunities as well. The Coalition offers a full online training curriculum regarding homelessness, policy and housing development. Over the past year, our education program has become more robust as we hosted 131 education events, including our CINCINNATI URBAN EXPERIENCE, SPEAKERS' BUREAU, TOURS, TRAININGS and STREETVIBES SHADOWS. In those 131 events, we helped over 1,500 individuals deepen their understanding of homelessness. On top of this, we launched a new podcast, Roots and Roofs, and released 13 episodes. A participant in our CINCINNATI URBAN EXPERIENCE from Temple University, had this to say, "This trip really lit a spark in me and has pushed me in the direction I had not found previously. I always had an idea I would end up in the nonprofit space, but now I know there is a purpose to fight for. Seeing firsthand members of this community, do the work in every day life is something I won't forget." We also held multiple policy-focused TEACH-INS to respond to the growing urgency from people to understand our city's policies that are making housing unaffordable and inaccessible, so they may better organize and advocate.

COORDINATION OF SERVICES (MEMBERSHIP): The Homeless Coalition is an organization founded on and driven by our members. Our membership includes our primary constituency - People experiencing homelessness throughout Geater Cincinnati: people residing in shelters and transitional housing, living outside and in places not meant for human habitation, and households who are bouncing from one doubled-up situation to another. We have dozens of direct service provider member organizations which provide services including all forms of shelter, affordable housing development, subsidized housing, supportive housing, street outreach, mental and medical health services, addiction detox and recovery, spiritual care, food and meal provisions, clothing, domestic violence response, services for school children, legal services, housing discrimination prevention and response and more. We facilitate the connection of our many members not only in the areas of advocacy and education, but also in the strategic implementation of services.

STREETVIBES: Streetvibes is a social justice newspaper that is part of the International Street Newspaper Movement. The paper focuses on homelessness, social justice, and international news issues; telling the stories of poverty not printed in traditional newspapers. The papers are distributed by individuals who have experienced homelessness to earn supplemental income. Streetvibes also features articles, poetry, jokes, art, and photographs submitted by individuals who have experienced homelessness. Our number Distributors decreased sharply during the pandemic. We have continued to work to rebuild our roster of Distributors by recruiting new folks. In fiscal year 2024 we distributed over 10,050 papers. Streetvibes provides education about homelessness and affordable housing that many readers would not otherwise get.