Affordable housing group receives additional funding from Columbus

Aaron Burd
·2 min read

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A local nonprofit is working to develop affordable housing opportunities within Columbus and Franklin County.

The Affordable Housing Trust for Columbus and Franklin County has combined public and private funding to support the development of housing for over 20 years. And on Monday, Columbus City Council approved the renewal of a contract with AHT for $2.317 million.

Woman shot, arrested after officer is hit by car in north Columbus

In 2016, AHT was certified as a Community Development Financial Institution. Those provide assistance to underserved communities facing low-income and low-wealth barriers to affordable lending. Lark Mallory of AHT said that shows how dire the situation is for some Franklin County residents.

“If you spend more than 50% of your income on housing, then how do you afford food, or gas, or utilities, or medical?” Mallory said.

AHT has loaned millions toward the development of affordable housing, with thousands of units created.

“Over our 22-year history, we use the funding that we receive from [City of Columbus and Franklin County] to make more than $326 million in loans,” Mallory said. “It’s basically a revolving loan fund. We loan money out, it comes back in, we loan it out again. That has created over 14,000 units created and preserved. Last year alone, we did $68.5 million in lending and that created or preserved 1,400 units.”

Projects that AHT assisted with include Nazareth Towers, Morse Glen, Southpoint Place Supportive Housing and Legacy Pointe at Poindexter.

In addition to helping with the creation of affordable housing, AHT is also helping fund home repairs. It has a grant program for home repairs and to subsidize housing-related initiatives for nonprofit groups. The program provides funding for exterior and interior home repairs that address health and safety, accessibility or code violations, and it provides funds to nonprofits for non-production projects that support existing housing.

The grant program, along with the Housing Action Fund and Emerging Developer’s Accelerator Program, are three examples of the work that AHT does to help improve housing conditions in Columbus and Franklin County.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.