(INDIANAPOLIS) – Today, the Opportunity Starts at Home campaign announced Prosperity Indiana as a new state partner. This national effort is aimed at building multi-sector partnerships to address the urgent housing needs of low-income people across the country. The Opportunity Starts at Home – Indiana Coalition (OSAH-IN) will unite housing and non-housing sector partners throughout the state to advance solutions that address the lack of quality, affordable housing in Indiana.
Robust research shows that affordable housing is central to gains in health, food security, education, and economic mobility outcomes. Despite this evidence, gaps between rent and income are growing and exacerbated by a shrinking supply of affordable housing and inadequate federal housing assistance. OSAH-IN will work to build momentum for proven solutions to end homelessness and housing instability.
“By uniting housing advocates with multi-sector partners dedicated to improving health, social justice, and economic mobility, we will build stronger communities that benefit all Hoosiers,” said Jessica Love, Executive Director of Prosperity Indiana. “We are excited to expand our alliance and build on the momentum of this national movement to ensure more Americans have the opportunity to prosper with access to safe, stable affordable housing.”
OSAH-IN expands on Prosperity Indiana’s efforts to ensure all Hoosiers live and work in an environment that provides equitable access to economic and social opportunity. Prosperity Indiana and Housing Action Illinois join the campaign’s original state partners in California, Idaho, Maine, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, and Utah. Prosperity Indiana will benefit from the experiences shared in the peer learning group with other states and will gain access to additional research, national network partners, and technical assistance from the national campaign.
“We are thrilled to welcome both Housing Action Illinois and Prosperity Indiana as state partners of the Opportunity Starts at Home campaign,” said Mike Koprowski, National Campaign Director. “Together, we will build a broad-based movement to end housing poverty and homelessness.”
The goal of OSAH-IN will be to achieve ambitious increases in affordable housing — through existing and new housing infrastructure; and direct support to organizations supporting those who are unstably housed or homeless. The Indiana coalition will also seek to expand voucher supports that fund deeply targeted housing assistance for extremely low-income households, including vulnerable populations, such as youth, seniors and those with disabilities. The coalition will also seek to implement policy change to reduce federal and state barriers to housing stability.
For more details about this effort, visit http://prosperityindiana.org/OSAH. To find out how to join this alliance, contact OSAH@prosperityindiana.org.
