EMPLOYMENT                                                                    The Columbus Coalition for the Homeless is dedicated to finding and creating employment solutions for homeless individuals.  Homeless persons have a high unemployment rate due to various barriers. 

A report on homelessness and employment can be found here: http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/employment.html

Our 2009 Employment Interest Survey was conducted by former CCH staff Emily Scott.  In 2009, 165 homeless persons in Columbus were surveyed about their employment barriers and desires.  CLICK HERE for the full report.

CLICK HERE for a listing of employment services that are available to homeless individuals in Columbus. 

If you know of a service that isn’t listed or changes to a service, please let us know at info@columbushomeless.org. 

Initiatives to Employ Homeless and Low-Income Persons in Ohio

Coalition Initiatives

Street Speech: Street Speech is a street newspaper program started by Coalition VISTAs in 2007.  Since then it has grown from a monthly to a bimonthly periodical, with a circulation of about 6,000 per issue and 12,000 per month.  The newspaper employs 60-70 vendors monthly.  In addition to employment, Street Speech serves an advocacy function, covering issues of relevance to homeless and other low-income people.

If you would like to explore being a vendor for STREET SPEECH, would like an annual subscription to the newspaper for $25, or are interested in volunteering, contact us at: street.speech.columbus@gmail.com or 228-1342 to find out the details. You can also learn more about Street Speech by checking out the website at www.streetspeech.org.

Green Works Columbus: The Columbus Coalition for the Homeless recently launched a recycling pick-up business to employ homeless persons and encourage recycling in Columbus.  The program charges modest fees and picks up recycling from residents and businesses throughout Columbus.

Other Columbus Initiatives

Freshbox Catering is a catering company that employs homeless persons to make and deliver box lunches started by Lutheran Social Services:  http://www.freshboxcatering.com/index/

A collaboration between the Ohio State University, Local Matters, and the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission has received a $865,000 grant to bring healthy foods to Weinland Park and help low-income residents to establish entrepreneurial initiatives around healthy foods. 

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/10/21/blighted-neighborhood-may-sprout-food-campus.html

Employment Initiatives around the State

Homefull, an organization providing services to homeless persons in Dayton, has started the Gettysburg Gateway Micro-farm next to their shelter, and partnered with Goodwill to employ homeless men to garden during the summers.  They are working on finding ways to distribute and sell their food and hope to make it sustainable.http://homefull.org/services-and-programs/gettysburg-gateway-micro-farm/

Dayton Works Plus employs low-income residents and ex-offenders to deconstruct vacant homes and recycle the materials. It is a partnership between several different organizations and the City of Dayton.
http://www.east-end.org/deconstructiondaytonworks.htm

In Cleveland, a network of cooperatives, the Evergreen Cooperatives, has been started to employ low-income people in surrounding neighborhoods. http://www.evergreencoop.com/