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Community Report
Department of Community Development - 25 Years.
For more than 25 years, the goal of the City's Department
of Community Development has been to (and continues to be) to improve
neighborhoods, to assist, in any way possible, with those who provide
and those who need affordable housing, and to build community.
The Department of Community Development will plan, organize, and manage programs that help to meet this objective.
The Community Development staff will assist in providing financial and technical help to a neighborhood or to a not-for-profit serving the disadvantaged. Programs administered by the Department of Community Development include:
How has Community Development benefited Columbus?
The Community Development Block Grant program (CDBG) is the most triumphant example of a federal/city partnership. At the national level, HUD numbers tell part of the CDBG tale. Millions of low-income and moderate- income families are living in better communities, living in better housing, working at better jobs, and looking ahead to a better future because of Community Development Block Grants.
At the local level, Community Development has changed the look and the feel of our community and has targeted programs that have changed the quality of life in a neighborhood or solved a particular problem for people living in a neighborhood.
Community Development funding built a child care facility currently operating on McClure Road.
Community Development funding remodeled an old pumphouse for a senior center. Still operating, but currently looking for a new location on which to build a larger facility.
Community Development funding built a multipurpose neighborhood facility, the Eastside Community Center, currently operating and recently rehabilitated and brought to ADA standards with Community Development funding.
Community Development funding helped to renovate a shelter for victims of domestic violence by providing eight additional units, two showers, an enlarged kitchen and dining area, and made the building accessible to the physically challenged.
Community Development funding assisted in the building of a multipurpose training center for the developmentally disabled.
More than 100 homes have been rehabilitated with Community Development funding.
Community Development funding improved and expanded Clifty Park, Morningside Park, and Pence Street Park.
Community Development funding was used to install sidewalks along routes to McDowell and Fodrea Schools, and along Gladstone and McClure Road. Community Development funding also provided the original disability ramps along Sycamore, Washington, and Jackson Streets.
Legal aid has been provided for low-income individuals. Community Development provides funding to deal with deteriorated housing, incompatible land use, blighted conditions, and drainage problems.
A Community Development Improvement Program grant in the amount of $500,000 renovated a building at the Columbus Municipal Airport for a small business incubator. Community Development funding weatherized more than 350 homes and made low-interest loans to local companies.
Community Development funding provided more than $500,000 for water, sewer, and road improvements and is providing a programming grant for Lincoln Central Family Neighborhood Center, funding for the Columbus Child Care Center, Eastside Community Centers, and CEDC.
Community Development funding helped provide funding for purchasing that houses Volunteers In Medicine.
Other responsibilities of the City's Department of Community Development include maintaining the integrity of the downtown Streetscape Program,
organizing and coordinating the Mayor's annual Prayer Breakfast and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Breakfast.
Community Development administers the City's tax
abatement program and provides a community garden project at Columbus
Municipal Airport.
Under the direction of the Mayor, the staff of the Department of Community Development planned and organized the Cultural Awareness Committee which helps to promote inclusion, increase understanding, and promote a "common good" among all who live in our community.
Community Development partnered with Lincoln Central Family Neighborhood in declaring that area a drug-free zone, assists the Columbus Area Arts Council in coordinating the Mayor's Arts Award, and provides support for the Telecommunications Review Committee.
Community Development focuses on quality of life issues concentrating on housing, youth, families, and seniors. |
