(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families initiative announces the sale of the first home in Linden, developed as part of an ongoing commitment to provide high quality, affordable homes for purchase in that community.
Over five years, Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families and the Central Ohio Community Land Trust will develop 72 high quality, affordable homes for purchase in the Linden community. Development of 22 of those homes is currently underway. Previously, Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families and the Land Trust developed nine homes on the city’s South Side.
“Affordable housing is essential to improving health outcomes. We know home ownership is a priority for Linden residents, and we are excited to provide this opportunity,” said Nick Jones, vice president of community wellness at Nationwide Children’s. “These homes create an opportunity for families to build wealth that will continue to impact not only the community as a whole, but the children who will grow up in it for many generations to come.”
Through the Land Trust’s shared equity model, these homes will remain affordable while allowing home buyers to earn equity and build wealth through the purchase of each home. The hospital will also provide $50,000 through philanthropic engagement to every home built as part of the affordability subsidy offered on the homes. The cost of each home is on average $270,000 to build, and homes will be listed for sale at about $170,000.
“Each house is sold at less than the cost to develop it, and that is intentional,” said Gretchen West, executive director of Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families’ Healthy Homes initiative at Nationwide Children’s. “Continuing the hospital’s investment in the Linden community by offering homeownership opportunities adds one more important piece to the affordable housing puzzle in Columbus.”
“This five-year agreement between Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families and the Land Trust to build more than 70 new homes in the Linden area is a great example of the impact we can make to build stronger communities in Franklin County through ongoing collaboration,” said Curtiss L. Williams, Sr., President/CEO of COCIC. “We have witnessed the social, economic and health benefits of homeownership. However, as costs for rent and buying a new home remain high throughout the region, it’s critically important to create more housing options that are affordable to working individuals and families today and into the future.”
The five-year project will be funded by the City of Columbus’ commitment of bond dollars to the Central Ohio Community Land Trust and will offset development costs.
Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families was launched in 2008 and seeks to create positive health outcomes in the community by providing programs and services in the areas of health and wellness, education, economic development, affordable housing, and community enrichment. Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families has offered rental homes and exterior home repair grants to Linden residents since 2021. To date, Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families has impacted 100 houses in the Linden neighborhood. Average home rental rates on Healthy Homes range from $720-850/month, and 80 home repair grants have been distributed to residents. In addition to Healthy Homes, other Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families resources found in the Linden community include workforce training, free tax clinics, the Linden Fresh Market and more.
About Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Named to the Top 10 Honor Roll on U.S. News & World Report’s 2022-23 list of “Best Children’s Hospitals,” Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of America’s largest not-for-profit free-standing pediatric health care systems providing unique expertise in pediatric population health, behavioral health, genomics and health equity as the next frontiers in pediatric medicine, leading to best outcomes for the health of the whole child. Integrated clinical and research programs, as well as prioritizing quality and safety, are part of what allows Nationwide Children’s to advance its unique model of care. Nationwide Children’s has a staff of more than 13,000 that provides state-of-the-art wellness, preventive and rehabilitative care and diagnostic treatment during more than 1.6 million patient visits annually. As home to the Department of Pediatrics of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children’s physicians train the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric specialists. The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of the Top 10 National Institutes of Health-funded free-standing pediatric research facilities. More information is available at NationwideChildrens.org.
About the Central Ohio Community Land Trust
The Central Ohio Community Land Trust, a subsidiary of the Central Ohio Community Improvement Corporation (COCIC), is committed to creating more affordable housing options for individuals in under-served and transitioning neighborhoods, bridging the affordability and racial homeownership gaps that exist today in Franklin County. You can learn more about COCIC and the Central Ohio Community Land Trust by visiting www.coclt.org.