7,100 Homes Developed
Served Annually 60,000
Staff Units Owned/ Managed 2,500
We are pleased to present our impact report for 2023, which was another impactful year of knocking down barriers for residents of the communities we serve.
In 42 years, CHN’s work has improved countless lives and communities, helped stabilize families in crisis and helped others thrive and create generational wealth. Since our founding, we have developed 7,100 affordable housing units, helped more than 3,200 become homeowners, and served thousands who needed a helping hand in time of crisis. 2023 was no exception.
Our team continued to seek opportunities and resources to combat the affordable housing crisis facing our communities. We built new and renovated affordable housing units across our markets. Our real estate development pipeline is now larger than ever at $200 million plus. We continued building our new Single Family Preservation service area as we renewed our focus on home repair to improve the quality of homes and help seniors age in place. We also completed integration of the Elyria, Ohio-based New Sunrise Properties into CHN’s operations and continued to house thousands of families in quality, affordable units in Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
As pandemic era programs wound down, we doubled down on helping improve the housing stability of thousands through our various programs, including utility assistance, weatherization, property tax assistance and free tax preparation. We worked to keep families with school-age children safely housed, counseled individuals and families to improve their financial health, and worked with the children of our
Lease Purchase residents to earn income and develop skills through summer jobs. In Detroit, we worked with our partners to continue expanding the Detroit Housing Network that provides a one-stop-shop for housing services for Detroiters.
Our lending arm, CHN Housing Capital, helped dozens become homeowners with our flagship Believe Mortgage and down payment assistance programs. Dozens more became homeowners through our nationally renowned Lease Purchase Program while our Homeownership Center worked diligently to prepare individuals and families for homeownership.
We are thrilled that the dream of the Louise C. Stokes Scholar House became a reality. The building is now fully leased and operational, housing and supporting 40 student parents and their children.
None of this would have been possible without the guidance of our board, the hard work of our staff, the commitment of our partners and the generosity of our funders.
TOGETHER, WE WILL CONTINUE TO SERVE OUR COMMUNITIES AS WE INVEST EACH DAY IN THE POWER OF A PERMANENT ADDRESS.
Kevin J. Nowak President and CEO
Chris Warren Board Chair
51,385
Utility client service applications completed.
Clients now have access to three Utility Assistance satellite locations at Maple Heights Senior Center, MetroHealth Buckeye Medical Center and the Greater Cleveland Food Bank.
3
5,491
Home weatherization projects completed for renters and homeowners.
Weatherization includes heating and water system replacement or repair, insulation and water conservation equipment installation and more.
CHN’s Utility Assistance satellite location at Buckeye Medical Center
425
354
152 108
Home repair projects started or completed, including repairs to roofs, porches and walkways, plumbing and more to help homeowners maintain safe and healthy homes.
Households brought current on their property taxes, helping prevent displacement and foreclosure of homeowners in Cuyahoga County.
Total units of construction started (Cuyahoga
Transition Aged Youth (TAY), Margaret Wagner
Senior Apartments, Orchard Village) or completed (McGregor
Senior Independent Living, Larchmere Homes, Louise C. Stokes Scholar House).
Affordable housing units awarded Low
Income Housing Tax
Credits:
Emerald Senior (9%)
Hope Homes I (9%)
Sunrise Neighborhood Living (9%)
Carriage Town Place (4%)
3,818
Services provided through Detroit Housing Network (includes home repair, other housing needs and homebuyer education class attendees).
13
Housing Counselors (including 9 HUD
Certified Housing Counselors)* provided individualized resources and support to clients
14 Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP)
Certifications received by CHNresident graduates of the SherwinWilliams Professional Paint Training Program
*Not including DHN
647
Individuals completed Financial Capabilities and Home Buyer Education courses
3,358 614
Families with school aged children assisted through the Financial Stability Initiative
2,110
Individuals received free tax preparation on-site at CHN and through several “Super Refund Saturday” events
Housing counseling and education clients served through DHN and CHN
$118K+
Income generated for Lease Purchase families through the Summer Youth Employment Program
318
213
Lease Purchase Clients prepared for homeownership Individuals served through 1 - on - 1 homebuyer and financial counseling
165
Believe Mortgage and home repair loans originated
558
Clients served through CHN’s Homeownership Center
Katrina Hardy never imagined she could be a homeowner. A long-term renter with hesitations about the amount of time and finances required to purchase a home, she “spent a lot of time being caught up in [her] fears and doubts,” as she told her loan officer.
All that changed when she learned about the Believe Mortgage. She began to attend financial and homebuying classes and met one-on-one with a CHN housing counselor. Once she was preapproved for a loan, she began to look for homes that met her financial criteria. Thanks to the support system and guidance from CHN, Hardy is a proud homeowner in Cleveland’s Union Miles neighborhood.
Six years in the making, the Louise C. Stokes Scholar House opened for residents in December 2023. Named for Louise C. Stokes, the mother of former Cleveland Mayor Carl B. Stokes, and former Congressman Louis Stokes, this new development has 40 units of two- and three-bedroom apartments for adult college students and their children. It offers not only stable housing and rental support, but also high-quality childcare, academic support and wrap-around resident services.
The development is funded by a Low Income Housing Tax Credit award from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, Enterprise Housing Credit Investments, Citizens Bank, City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, The William J. and Dorothy K. O’Neill Foundation, RSM US Foundation, Bruening Foundation and federal funding secured by Senator Sherrod Brown. Hiti, DiFrancesco + Siebold designed the building and Regency Construction Services, Inc. is the general contractor.
The Louise C. Stokes Scholar House Program Partners include Cleveland State University, Cuyahoga Community College, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, Step Forward and United Way of Greater Cleveland.
40 Units occupied by residents and their children.
53 Children and dependents under the age of 18.
11 Colleges and Universities represented.
*Executive Committee
Chris Warren*, Chair, Retired, City of Cleveland
Carolynn Galloway*, Vice Chair, Better Together Solar, Union-Miles Development Corp.
Sahnara Hendrix-Arney*, Secretary, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Jim Poznik*, Treasurer, Grow America
Denise Casino, Assurance Health System
Jaime Declet, Cleveland Public Library
Nick DiSanto, JPMorgan Private Bank
Reverend Jimmy L. Gates Sr., Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church
Cathryn Greenwald, Thompson Hine, LLP
Michael Griffin*, Grow America
Kathy Hexter*, Retired, Cleveland State University
Loretta Hunter, Retired
Dan Last, KeyBank
Peter Meisel*, Carnegie Companies
Caroline Peak*, Cleveland Public Library
David Roney, East Cleveland City Schools, Burten, Bell, Carr Development, Inc.
Gary Sardon, G. Sardon Companies, Fairfax Renaissance Development Corp.
Michael Sering, Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry, St. Clair Superior Development Corp.
Terrell Sanders*, Cuyahoga County
Cheri Smith, S&T Bank
Krume Stojanovski*, Krume & Associates, Slavic Village Development
We are grateful to our funders for making our work possible. Funders include:
Gilbert Family Foundation
KeyBank Foundation
Siemer Institute for Family Stability
Kresge Foundation
U.S. Department of the Treasury - CDFI Fund
NeighborWorks America
The Cleveland Foundation
George Gund Foundation
Ohio Housing Finance Agency
Flagstar Bank
Hearst Foundations
Nord Family Foundation
Enterprise Community Partners
Third Federal Savings & Loan
City of Cleveland
Cuyahoga County
Bank of America
Housing Partnership Network
Huntington National Bank
McMaster-Carr Supply Co.
Meisel & Pesses Family Foundation
Congregation of St. Joseph
Cavaliers Community Foundation
F.N.B. Corporation
Higley Fund of The Cleveland Foundation
U.S. Bank
The Abington Foundation
Dollar Bank
Starfish Computer Corporation
Fifth Third Bank
George W. Codrington Charitable Foundation
The PNC Foundation
Community Foundation of Lorain County
United Healthcare
The Reinberger Foundation
Eva L. and Joseph M. Bruening Foundation
2014 Jacqueline and Fred C. Rothstein Charitable Lead Trust
Citizens Bank RBS
CVS Health Aetna
Hiti, DiFrancesco and Siebold, Inc.
IFF
John G. Johnson Construction
M.E. and F.J. Callahan Foundation
Mistick Construction
Peter Meisel & Susan Yarus Meisel
Regency Construction Services, Inc.
Staffing Solutions
Shorr/McKnight Fund
Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corporation
First Federal of Lakewood
John Davies
Klein Hornig
Giant Eagle Foundation
Holzer Family Charitable Fund
