CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio — Cuyahoga County leaders are working on a plan to address homelessness for those who have been incarcerated.
“My wheels were turning when I looked at that. It’s so many different avenues that this money can help us with,” said Waverly Willis, who once experienced a drug and alcohol addiction, homelessness and even spent time in jail.
Willis says he’s thankful he beat the odds.
He says he's even more grateful he has created a name for himself, and he wants others to have the same opportunity for success as he has.
That’s why he’s a big supporter of Cuyahoga County’s new Housing Justice Plan.
It outlines eight immediate and short-term action steps to better house people who have been released from incarceration, which include the development of new units and expansion of existing programs.
Sharyna Cloud, who works on this project as a developer for Enterprise Community Partners, says there will also be opportunities available for people to become homeowners.
“We are the largest county that receives the largest amount of individuals back from our state prisons, and that cycle through our local jails, we are talking in excess of over 22,000 individuals a year who are touched by the legal system. Many thousands of those individuals are touched by the homeless system,” said Sharyna Cloud, who’s the Senior Program Officer at Enterprise Community Partner (Ohio Market).
Cloud and Simeon Best, who’s the Director at the Cuyahoga County Office of Re-entry, says the two agencies are collaborating together and with current housing providers to find solutions and funding for the $37.6 million plan.
They say it will take a combination of both public and private funds for the plan to be completed.
“We are serious about really removing barriers and the stigma that really impede an individual's successful reintegration back into society and housing is such an important need,” said Simeon Best, who’s the Director at the Cuyahoga County Office of Reentry.
The Housing Justice Plan calls for a three-year process of implementation.
Best says the county’s housing director will take parts of this proposal and make sure it’s incorporated into the overall county-wide housing plan.
“I would be more than happy to sit on the committee, some type of advisory board or something, because we need to see this through. Homeownership, generational wealth; it’s a win-win for the whole community,” said Willis.
