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A national organization devoted to ending homelessness, whose membership includes Supreme Court of Ohio Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, held its May meeting and gathered for a reception yesterday at the Ohio Judicial Center.
Established in 1991, the Corporation for Supportive Housing is a nonprofit intermediary whose mission is to help communities create permanent housing with services to prevent and end homelessness to those most in need: people coping with homelessness and extreme poverty, as well as chronic health conditions such as mental illness and addiction.
Because of her leadership on issues related to individuals with mental illness in the criminal justice system, a population beneficially served by supportive housing, Justice Stratton was appointed to the National Board of the Corporation for Supportive Housing in 2005. In addition, the corporation decided to meet in Columbus because of Ohio’s collaborative approach to this issue.
“As a trial court judge, I saw many defendants whose mental illness was the root of their criminal behavior, yet there were no resources to assist with their rehabilitation,” Justice Stratton said. “Today, there are several communities with mental health courts attempting to address this issue, but homelessness has been identified as a challenge to these offenders succeeding in treatment.”
A chapter of the Corporation for Supportive Housing was established in Ohio in 1999. More than $1.8 million in loans, grants and consulting services to further the development of more than 1,500 units of supportive housing in Ohio communities has occurred along with supportive housing training for more than 1,100 individuals across the state.
In 2006, six state agencies and the corporation formed a partnership to find and work over the next two years to develop supportive housing to meet their collective needs. The Interagency Housing Support agreement of $200,000 in state funds brought in more than $1.2 million of new national funds. Additionally, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction has invested $2.9 million in supportive housing in the past two years.
“All these projects have benefited our mental health and drug court docket projects,” Justice Stratton said. “And, housing remains one of our biggest needs in making these programs work.”
Contact: Chris Davey or Bret Crow at 614.387.9250.