A Generational Opportunity to Advance Housing Justice in Cuyahoga County –and Beyond

Over the last 25 years, Enterprise has worked with partners in Cuyahoga County, Ohio to connect families and individuals experiencing homelessness to stable housing and supportive services. By working towards the same goal, the coalition has been able to create or preserve over 2,500 supportive housing units, improve coordination between government and non-profit partners, and strengthen services from workforce development to case management.

But the need is still significant, and the shifting policy landscape has been deeply challenging for housing providers to navigate. In November 2025, the federal government announced drastic changes to how it would fund homelessness programs. Funding delays threatened to put thousands of people in the county out of their homes. By January 2026, those guidelines were rescinded due to litigation, and Congress passed a spending bill that ensured housing providers could continue their services for at least another year. However, many providers are still waiting on their federal funding due to lagging contracts.

Earlier this month, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued the FY 2026 Continuum of Care Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), which carries forward many of the policy priorities from November, which are still being litigated. These policy changes continue to put pressure on local providers working to solve homelessness and make their communities safer and stronger. It places an estimated 97,000 people nationally and 7,500 in Ohio in Continuum of Care-funded permanent housing at risk of losing their home.

An Opportunity in the 21st Century Road to Housing Act

But there are bright spots. On June 23rd, with overwhelming bipartisan support, Congress passed the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, the most sweeping federal legislation in more than a decade. With partners, Enterprise has advocated for several of the key housing provisions that will make it easier to find and access affordable housing, lower costs, and increase supply across the country. Specifically, it supports:

• Making Housing Choice Vouchers easier to use
• Strengthening coordination between healthcare, criminal justice, veteran services, and job training systems
• Protecting rental assistance for affordable homes in rural communities
• Making it easier for banks to invest more in affordable housing
• Making it easier and quicker for communities to get the long-term housing recovery support they need after disasters

These policy changes, if implemented, represent a significant improvement for the millions of people across the country experiencing housing precarity or instability. And in Cuyahoga County, where collaboration has been deep and sustained, partners are ready to mobilize at the local level.

Mobilizing Locally to Advance Housing Affordability

In May, Enterprise partnered with The George Gund Foundation and The Center for Community Solutions to convene partners across Cuyahoga County to reinvigorate collaboration to ensure there's a strong housing and homelessness system in place so that everyone in the community can thrive.

There were 140 people in the room - partners from the reentry system, city council, county government, homelessness services, people with lived expertise, philanthropy, higher education, youth and young adult programs, legal aid, supportive housing providers, faith-based partners, housers, transitional housing partners, healthcare providers, and other nonprofit leaders. The energy was high, and partners were ready to get busy on solutions.

It was inspiring to join a panel of experts leading efforts to advance housing justice in Ohio and hear from former HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge about how vital federal investment in housing supports is for vulnerable populations like seniors, veterans, and children.

As Enterprise's homelessness policy lead, Lindsay Knotts participated in a robust discussion with state and local leaders and charged Cuyahoga County - and partners across the country-to think expansively about the opportunities ahead of us. Despite a challenging environment, she challenged the room to hold fast to a collective vision for a better future, to reimagine how to solve problems together, and to invite more partners to the table-especially those whose voices may be missing from the conversation.

More than ever, we need radically inclusive tables where people can come together to plan and build momentum around new ideas and new ways for supporting our neighbors. There is so much brilliance and capacity when partners come together from across sectors: healthcare, reentry services, higher education, philanthropy, homelessness services, affordable housing, legal aid, faith institutions, government, and people with all kinds of lived experience.

The 21st Century Road to Housing represents a generational moment for housing affordability across this country, but its passage is only the beginning. The legislation's impact will depend on how effectively cross-sector partners at all levels collaborate to put these tools to work. Enterprise's longstanding work in Cuyahoga County is a great example of driving collective impact, and with our partners, we're excited to make meaningful improvements for families in Ohio and across the U.S.