Homeport seeks to create affordable, safe and clean homes for low-income residents — adding stability in their lives and revitalizing distressed neighborhoods.
The nonprofit builds homes and provides lease-to-purchase options, but the biggest component is the 5,500 residents in its rental properties.
Thanks to access to after school instruction and activities, mental health screenings, produce fairs, furniture assistance and more, Homeport’s tenants stay an average 3.9 years, versus the 1.5 years of the overall rental market, says Amy Klaben, president and CEO of Homeport.
Homeport also offers free homebuyer education, financial literacy classes, budget and credit counseling, and foreclosure prevention programs to the community at large. In 2014, more than 1,900 Central Ohioans participated.
“Clients of our HUD-certified financial counselors are three times more likely to obtain a money-saving mortgage modification than if they try to resolve their problems alone,” Klaben says. “They are also twice as likely to catch up on missed mortgage payments — and 60 percent less likely to fall behind again.”
Smart Business spoke with Klaben about how Homeport experiments with new ideas as it grows.
SB: Why is it important to find creative ways to help people and create new revenue streams?
AK: Our housing development contributes to the vitality of our community by creating construction jobs and property management jobs. New England Market Research Inc. concluded that from 2008 to 2012 Homeport contributed $487 million to Central Ohio’s economy.
We currently have more than 150 single and multifamily homes in construction or predevelopment for 2015.
Our mission is to provide affordable homes where people live within their means and raise families with stability. Housing is at the heart of education, health and employment issues. We are not providing just a home, but breaking the cycle of poverty.
That said, we realize that program financing and construction dollars are finite, if not uncertain. We have chosen to use real estate investment as a strategy to stretch our cash flow in support of our mission-driven work.
SB: How are you taking a more entrepreneurial approach?
AK: Together with developer Casto, we plan the reuse of historic Barrett Middle School as a market rate community to create 108 apartments and 22 single-family homes on the south side of Columbus.
The sale of the homes will generate income. The ongoing rental revenue for the apartments will provide a sustainable source of cash flow.
To incorporate our mission, we will reserve about 5 percent of the apartments for individuals earning no more than 80 percent of the area median income, about $40,000 for a family of four.
A second real estate matter involves the consolidation of all Homeport operations to a 43,000-square-foot building we purchased out of foreclosure. The new location in the CityGate Business Park is between Port Columbus International Airport and Easton Town Center, and it eliminated rent payments at two other locations.
We plan to lease half of our new building, and we are studying the best option for our old headquarters, which we could sell, lease or redevelop.
As part of our transformation to our new, consolidated headquarters, we redesigned our logo to an image more in keeping with our new tagline: Strong Communities Start at Home.
Being entrepreneurial isn’t restricted to cash flow. Creative programming that educates the public has become critical.
In April we held a town hall-style program at COSI that featured the acclaimed 2014 Maria Shriver-HBO produced documentary ‘Paycheck to Paycheck: The Life & Times of Katrina Gilbert.’ Gilbert of Chattanooga, Tennessee, joined us for a panel discussion afterwards.
The film addresses challenges faced by moderate-income single parents, particularly women. Of our 5,500-plus residents, half are children ages 18 and younger, and 80 percent of those live in single parent homes. The average annual income of our adult resident is just over $17,000.
SB: How have you balanced new approaches with your traditional mission?
AK: We are constantly assessing the feasibility and relevance of an idea or service. Carving out time to think about creative revenue streams is a must due to constant changes in funding and programs. We are always thinking about the future — our services, sustainability and opportunities.
SB: What have you learned along the way?
AK: To have an impact, you need to get to scale. If you just do one house, as opposed to a neighborhood, nobody’s going to want to buy it.
One of our great successes is our North of Broad initiative, called ‘NoBo,’ in the King Lincoln District on the Near East Side. We were able to create a beautiful community of new and rehabbed homes and condos in an area once dominated by boarded up or rundown properties.
SB: What else would you like to share with the business community?
AK: Our housing helps provide a stable workforce, as we place people closer to jobs. We are creating an environment that can break the generational grip of poverty.
Affordable, energy-efficient homes free up funds for nutritious food — and reduce stress and costs that can occur when families are forced to move to find a place they can afford.
Research demonstrates that structures and emotional experiences of childhood mold cognitive development and impact success. Children in Franklin County who live in low-income families have six times the dropout rate of those in more affluent families.
Homeport is on the frontline of making a difference.
