Taking Action to Respond to and Prevent Homelessness
We envision the Oxford, Ohio, area as a loving, compassionate, accepting community where no one wants for safe, secure housing.
Awareness
To gain a more complete picture of the nature and extent of the issue of homelessness in the Oxford area, volunteers from OASH conducted a Point-in-Time (PIT) count of those persons experiencing homelessness during the week of December 11, 2023, utilizing official protocols from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
- 96 individuals are experiencing homelessness in the Oxford area (unique, unduplicated).
- 36 people meet the school district definition (McKinney-Vento Act), including 16 children and 20 adults.
- The remaining 56 adults and 4 children meet the HUD definition for homelessness.
Human Stories
To humanize the experiences of the real individuals interviewed during the PIT count, four stories from the following individuals were recorded and are shared.
- A woman in her late 30s suffering from PTSD and depression
- A man in his 50s with a mental health condition
- A mother of 4 children, ages 1-14 years
- A man in his early 40s struggling with disability
Property Owners
To help alleviate the issue of homelessness in our community, property owners can participate in the housing voucher choice (HCV) program.
- Property owners who participate in this program receive timely and dependable payments from the Public Housing Authority.
- Whether you own a single-family unit, a duplex, or an apartment building, you can participate.
- You have the opportunity to help low-income elderly, disabled, and veteran households, as well as families with children by providing affordable housing.
Community-Based Action Planning
OASH follows the Strategic Prevention Framework, a dynamic, data-driven planning process used to understand and more effectively address issues facing communities.
OASH is organized around the 6 sectors of any community: education, government, faith-based groups, civic and philanthropic organizations, business and economy, and human services, and utilizes a community-based process to develop written action plans for each sector.
Sector Action Plans
Education
- Goal 1: Identify ways to assist with student/school needs of those experiencing homelessness
- Goal 2: Develop and implement an Art Boxes for Healing program and offer it via community partners to children at risk of or who have experienced homelessness
- Goal 3: Develop a program for completion of GED or equivalent for homeless, those at risk, or others
- Goal 4: Offer a financial literacy adult education class in the Oxford area
Faith-Based
- Goal 1: Increase participation in OASH and Faith-based Sector (FBS) by different faith communities from the Oxford area.
- Goal 2: Create/Increase awareness about homelessness/poverty in the Oxford area among faith-based organizations.
- Goal 3: Use our faith-based platform to build consistent relationships with people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness
- Goal 4: Promote financial literacy in the Oxford area
- Goal 5: Research what work is already being done by faith communities in other cities
Philanthropy and Civic
- Goal 1: Compile a directory of possible funders (foundations, civic groups, business) of homelessness projects in the greater Oxford area.
- Goal 2: Create Kindness bags to be distributed to people who are unhoused on the street in Oxford
- Goal 3: Involve sector members in planning of funding, perhaps a capital campaign, to ensure sheltering options in the TOPSS one-stop building, and sustainability of TOPSS operations.
Economy and Business
- Goal 1: Initiate a meeting of rental property owners to discuss the housing voucher program
- Goal 2: Establish an official, local (in Oxford) data entry “access point” to ensure that persons experiencing chronic homelessness in the Oxford area can obtain housing vouchers (as available)
Government
- Goal 1: During planning for City budget year 2025, increase sustainability of funding for affordable housing, and for support of TOPSS
- Goal 2: By the end of 2026, open two permanent heat/cold (and other emergency shelters in Oxford) with quarterly progress reports at City Council meetings.
Human Services
- Goal 1: Conduct a Point in Time (PIT) count of persons experiencing homelessness in the Oxford area
- Goal 2: Promote the dissemination of the Oxford PIT count report throughout the Oxford area
- Goal 3: Ensure Oxford’s participation in the HUD annual Point in Time Count on January 23, 2024
Get involved
Stay informed on what is going on and how you can help