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Why Should I be Involved? 

Actively advocating for the policy agenda directly supports both OCDCA’s and our members' missions to create thriving communities. When members engage in advocacy, they can amplify their collective voice to influence policies that promote equitable development, affordable housing, and economic opportunities. Legislators want to hear your stories. Through sharing how policies impact legislators’ districts, your work can have an outsized impact on state policy. By getting involved, members can educate themselves on policies that directly affect their work and contribute towards a common good that benefits the community development field. Together, we can drive systemic change that strengthens communities across the state.

How Can I Get Involved?

An effective way to communicate your priorities and goals with lawmakers is through effective storytelling. Highlighting the impact of your work and knowing how to build relationships through the way you communicate is essential. You can refer to this article for storytelling tips. You can also reach out to a legislator or legislative aid here. Make sure to look out for our policy newsletter to see what policy issues are directly affecting community development.

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Advocacy Update

We're excited to share that the final budget, signed by Governor Mike DeWine, includes provisions that expand and protect access to affordable housing and homeownership in Ohio, as well as create new opportunities for community development nonprofits across the state. A brief rundown of key community development issues in the budget related to our policy agenda is below.

Welcome Home Ohio

• Community development nonprofits may now directly apply for the grant portion of the program.
• Technical changes to allow for easier use of the program, you can view the technical changes here.
• Grants funded at $45M annually.

Ohio Housing Trust Fund

• Current structure preserved.

We’re grateful to our members and partners whose advocacy helped secure housing wins in the state budget. These successes wouldn’t have been possible without your dedication and voice. 

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Interested in Learning More? 

View Scheduled Town Halls and Webinars:

Access Our One-Pagers for Each Policy Agenda Goal:

• Virtual Town Hall: January 15th Recording and Slides
• Webinar on First Goal of Policy Agenda (Welcome Home Ohio and Single Family Housing Tax Credit)
• Webinar on Third Goal of Policy Agenda (Middle Neighborhoods with Cleveland Neighborhood Progress)

1. One-Pager on Welcome Home Ohio and Single Family Housing Tax Credit (Goal 1)
2. One-Pager on Ohio Housing Trust Fund (Goal 2)
3. One-Pager on Middle Neighborhoods (Goal 3)
4. One-pager on Home Repair (Goal 4)
5. One-pager on Capacity Building (Goal 5)

Other Resources

• WHO Presentation from 2025 Annual Conference

Want a Short Explanation of Our Main Policy Goals? View Our Policy Agenda Spotlight Episodes Below:

Episode 1:

Episode 2:

Episode 3:

Episode 4:

Policy Agenda Background:

Our policy agenda includes issues and goals that we will be prioritizing and advocating for in 2025-2026. In 2024, OCDCA administered a policy survey to its members where respondents were asked what policy issues impacted their work the most and possible solutions. The OCDCA policy committee developed this proactive policy agenda based on member feedback and data from the policy survey to ensure the policy agenda directly reflected the needs of OCDCA’s membership.