Toledo City Paper: Old South End Partnership Focuses On Neighborhood’s Housing Challenges

TOLEDO, Ohio — A newly formed consortium of partners from established non-profit organizations is hoping that strength in numbers will lead to a very successful venture that brings more home ownership opportunities to Toledo’s Old South End.

The Old South End Partnership, which has brought together housing, philanthropic and community groups, has expressed a shared commitment to a common goal. The partners will align their work in order to improve the coordination of services, strengthen housing infrastructure and utilize reliable data to guide long-term decision-making in the historic neighborhood.

The pilot is supported by a combined $1 million initial investment from the John Henry Eldred Jr. Foundation and The Stranahan Supporting Organization of the Greater Toledo Community Foundation. This funding provides the start of a projected multi-year effort to establish the systems, partnerships and data that are necessary to support sustainable housing outcomes over the long haul.

Mike Deetsch, executive director of the John Henry Eldred Jr. Foundation and co-chair of the coalition steering committee, said he expects to see a significant advantage come from assembling what is essentially an all-star team of organizations specializing in addressing an issue as complex as housing affordability and availability.

“I think that it really helps that we have liked-minded individuals and such smart and passionate people working side by side and each coming to the table with a valuable set of skills,” he said.

The six founding partners of the effort include: the John Henry Eldred Jr. Foundation, a Toledo-based organization which supports other regional nonprofits in their work to address food security, housing stability, youth education and rural libraries; Lucas County Land Bank, which works to create affordable housing for families through the renovation and investment of distressed or vacant properties; Maumee Valley Habitat for Humanity, which brings people together to help them build or improve a place they can call home; Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), a national leader in community development; LadderUp Housing, which helps Ohio families break the cycle of renting and build equity; and the Historic South Initiative (HIS) which focuses on neighborhood revitalization in the Old South End.

The groups decided that instead of launching standalone efforts, they could create a shared framework with this new partnership and align their existing strengths in the areas of critical home repair, new home construction and financing.

“We know that this neighborhood does not have the problems that it does because they occurred overnight – these issues were decades in the making,” Deetsch said. “But by bringing all these groups together, we can expedite solutions.”

The groups expect the pilot will focus on coordinating repair and rehabilitation work, while also engaging in new construction. At the same time, they hope to strengthen neighborhood-level data collection and analysis. The new partnership will also provide funding for development and create a network of shared metrics to measure the impact of their efforts to help target future investment.

“This is really just the beginning, so we are excited to bring other people on board. We would love for the residents of the Old South End to become aware of the work that we are doing and recognize that we are partnering with them,” Deetsch said. “We want to see this effort really gain some momentum with the arrival of warm weather.”

Additional partners include the Greater Toledo Community Foundation, the Fair Housing Center and Sofia Quintero Art & Cultural Center.