GCF awards $150,000 to disrupt the eviction process and prevent homelessness

Eviction is the leading cause of homelessness, creating trauma and family instability and often disqualifying a family from obtaining housing in the future. Eviction isn’t just an upheaval—and a potential crisis—for the displaced family but also an incredible cost burden for property owners. The cost to a property owner to execute a non-payment eviction is three to five times more than the expense of stopping the eviction and preserving the tenancy. 

With evictions rising across Hamilton County, GCF awarded $150,000 to Greenlight Fund— organization that assesses hundreds of nonprofits for scalable, innovative solutions—to pilot HomeStart’s Renew Collaborative, an alternative method to the eviction process for our region. 

HomeStart’s program disrupts the eviction process through an intensive intervention model. It provides case management, access to one-time rental assistance and 12 months of post-crisis stabilization services. This intervention has proven to have a long-term impact, with 87% of participants remaining housing stable and 95% avoiding eviction. 

This innovative approach is a socially disruptive model that can prevent homelessness for families with low incomes at risk for eviction. The cost-benefit is so compelling that property owners can actually save money by financially supporting eviction prevention programs like HomeStart’s Renew Collaborative.  

Over the last 20 years, HomeStart has helped find permanent housing for more than 14,000 individuals living on the street and in shelters and has prevented over 4,000 families from experiencing homelessness. Locally, the program is being piloted with tenants who reside in 4,300 units subsidized by the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority with the goal of preventing over 300 evictions in Avondale, Price Hill, downtown, Winton Hills, South Cumminsville and more. The long-term goal is to expand to non-subsidized housing over the next few years.