Homes On The Hill - Ohio Non Profit Excellence Award

Ohio Non Profit Excellence Award

Homes On The Hill, CDC, a non profit community development organization serving the Greater Hilltop and Westside Neighborhoods of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, was given the Ohio Association of Non Profit Organization’s Non Profit Excellence Award. The awards are divided into categories with both a small and large non profit winner from northern, central and southern Ohio . HOTH was selected as the winner in the small non profit category representing Central Ohio . HOTH’s nominated program was the Hilltop East new housing project completed in 2005. This project was a collaboration between HOTH, Habitat for Humanity and the City of Columbus , Department of Development.

HOTH’s project consisted of new home construction provided by Habitat developed and managed by Homes on the Hill.

“This project marked the first significant single family new construction home ownership effort in the Greater Hilltop area in years”, stated Stephen Torsell, HOTH’s Executive Director. HOTH had initially designed the project to be built with modular homes based on the model located at 360 Lechner Avenue . The project consisted of 11 new homes to be built on Lechner, Wrexham, and Wheatland Avenues. “We encountered problems with the original development due to higher than anticipated construction costs. The margin for success with new construction in our neighborhoods is thin and every dollar counts,” said Torsell. “We have a history of developing creative partnerships and had worked with Habitat on several previous homes. We designed the first two story built by Habitat several years ago on Lechner and our relationship with them is strong.”

Habitat volunteers and staff completed eight properties within a one year period, a significant accomplishment for a project consisting of both volunteer and professional help. HOTH had purchased the vacant properties through a loan from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and the assistance of National City Bank in financing the model home. Other project funding was provided by Habitat and the City of Columbus . Habitat Executive Director EJ Thomas recently commented on the success of this project at the Habitat Annual Meeting. Habitat awarded HOTH one of their Community Partnership Awards for the success of the project. “We look forward to continuing our relationship with HOTH and developing more properties with them”, said Thomas. HOTH has completed 16 homes in collaboration with Habitat.

The award winner were announced at a luncheon on May 4 at the State House. Other nominees included the American Red Cross, Cincinnati Chapter; the Cleveland

Foodbank, the Dayton Foundation, First Link, the Ohio Energy Project, Prevent Blindness Ohio, the Three Rivers Housing Corporation, and the Toledo Fair Housing Center . “HOTH is honored to have been nominated with these distinguished organizations “said Torsell, “and it marks the combined efforts of a dedicated staff and Board of Directors representing HOTH and Habitat. We welcome the new residents of our neighborhood and appreciate the efforts of all involved”.

Homes On The Hill is a non profit organization supported by a variety of funders including the City of Columbus , Franklin County Board of Commissioners, the National Council of La Raza, United Way, Huntington Bank, Key Bank, the Ohio Department of Development, the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, the Community Development Collaborative of Greater Columbus, HSBC, and others.

Homes on the Hill CDC, is a non profit community development corporation formed in 1993 to develop affordable housing in the Hilltop community. It has an accomplished record of providing home rehabilitation and homeownership education programs. For more information, please call 275-4663.