P.O. Box 15471  Cleveland, Ohio 44115

  www.housingcleveland.org  

 

 

PRESS RELEASE                                         For Immediate Release

Contact:  Brian Davis at NE Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (216) 432-0540 

or Stephen Wertheim  at First Call for Help 216/436-2225

Housing Website Formally Introduced to Cuyahoga County 

Bridging the Gap and United Way’s 2-1-1/First Call for Help will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony for HousingCleveland.org on Tuesday, November 15th, at 2:00 p.m. at Cleveland’s historic Carnegie West Public Library (located at 1900 Fulton Rd. between Lorain and Bridge).   This resourceful website is designed to help people find and list affordable housing in Cuyahoga County.  Representatives of the non-profit and governmental agencies that created this website will join to celebrate the formal introduction of HousingCleveland.org, during this National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.  Cuyahoga County and the Department of Employment and Family Services funded the project.

        At this time, the website already lists available units in over 20 local cities, representing more than 1,500 available units and more than 850 registered property providers. The site also includes a rental checklist, information on tenant rights and responsibilities, utility tips and a rent calculator to help tenants decide how much they can afford in monthly rent.  An average of 1,000  searches are conducted every day by potential tenants.  By helping families looking for affordable housing, HousingCleveland.org is a valuable tool in the struggle to prevent and reduce homelessness. 

Cuyahoga County landlords can list their properties for free.  Tenants can search by rent, number of bedrooms, neighborhood and other options to find a list of properties that meet their specific needs.  Both landlords and tenants can access the site at www.housingcleveland.org.  Those who do not have access to the Internet can receive assistance by phone through 2-1-1/First Call For Help. All search features, property details and telephone assistance are also available in Spanish.

            2-1-1/First Call for Help manages the website.  The site’s listing of properties is updated daily by a not-for-profit organization called Socialserve.com.  Cleveland joins a growing national movement to provide information on rental housing availability on a free website.  Socialserve.com now administers sites in 13 states and in over 1,500 housing communities.  The CEO of Socialserve.com,Van Gottel, will join us for the ribbon cutting ceremony and will provide a demonstration of the website to media and partners.  The Tremont technology and graphic design firm, SCK, created the site, donating a portion of their time to the project.

About 2-1-1/First Call for Help

            2-1-1/First Call For Help, a program of United Way, is a free community service to help Cuyahoga County residents get information about social service, health and government resources 24 hours a day, every day.  Dialing 2-1-1 or 216-436-2000 connects people to a professional information specialist who can provide referrals to organizations that meet callers' needs. 211/First Call For Help has been in operation for over 50 years and serves nearly 100,000 people per year.

About Bridging the Gap

Bridging the Gap (BTG) is a non-profit program that works to "bridge the gap" between homeless individuals and affordable housing through collaboration and creating partnerships with the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA), HUD, local service agencies and private landlords.  BTG began as a program of NEOCH (Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless) in 1998 in an effort to address the problem of the lack of affordable housing in Cleveland. 

About the Collaboration

            This project is managed by United Way’s 2-1-1/First Call for Help and Bridging the Gap housing program, but is a collaboration among a diverse group of social service providers and government agencies. They include: Cleveland Tenants Organization, Cleveland/Cuyahoga County Office of Homeless Services, Cleveland Department of Community Development, Cleveland State University Center for Neighborhood Development, Cuyahoga County Department of Development, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, EDEN (Emerald Development and Economic Network), Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry, Maximum Independent Living, May Dugan Center, Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless.

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