June 10, 2019- CHN Housing Partners and Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland (NHS) today announced they have agreed to join forces under the CHN umbrella. The two housing organizations have been part of the fabric of Cleveland’s nonprofit community for a combined 82 years and will take affordable housing and housing services in the Cleveland area to a new level.
“After decades of working together, sharing similar missions, stakeholders, funders and clients, we have decided to combine forces,” said Kevin J. Nowak, who will become CHN’s executive director on July 1, 2019. “This is the right time to implement what the two organizations have discussed over the years.”
“Recognizing the unique opportunity to join together and offer more impactful solutions in our community than we could separately, both the NHS and CHN Boards authorized us to move forward,” said Barbara Andelman, chair of the NHS Board of Directors. “The NHS Board is pleased to be able to embrace this opportunity to strategically leverage the combined strengths of both organizations.”
CHN was founded in 1981 by a group of community development organizations in Cleveland. Its work has focused on housing stability as a way to invest in families, neighborhoods and the regional economy with a staff of 175. Today’s CHN serves more than 30,000 low-income individuals in Greater Cleveland annually. CHN is nationally known for its flagship Lease Purchase Program and works with partners in Ohio and neighboring states to develop affordable housing.
NHS provides programs and services for achieving, preserving and sustaining the American dream of homeownership. Since its inception in 1975, the focus on education as a key component in sustainable homeownership has been the cornerstone of the organization.
In addition to homebuyer education, the programs and services of NHS include down payment assistance, foreclosure intervention, home repair, home improvement loans, and credit counseling. In the last fiscal year, NHS provided counseling and education services to 2,115 clients and facilitated $21.5 million in investments throughout Northeast Ohio. NHS is the fifth chartered organization in the NeighborWorks America network.
“As a leader in homebuyer education and counseling, home repair and down payment assistance, NHS brings exceptional commitment to the community and deep expertise in consumer lending to CHN’s existing operation,” added Nowak.
The two organizations will combine operations beginning on July 1, 2019.
