Columbus Leaders Issue Roadmap for Equitable Pandemic Recovery
Community leaders today issued the
recommendations of a yearlong effort to build a roadmap for an equitable
community recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The final report of the Recovery and Resiliency Advisory
Committee outlines 37 opportunities for the city, the public sector,
nonprofits and private sector partners to address inequities in health, jobs,
housing and digital connectivity to promote systemic community change.
“The COVID-19 pandemic exposed and
further widened our community’s existing underlying inequities,” said Mayor
Andrew J. Ginther. “No single entity can address all the challenges we face,
but this committee has developed a framework for continued community
collaboration and investment that will improve quality of life, particularly
among our most vulnerable residents.”
The work of the 39-member committee
was informed by data that clearly showed that prior to and throughout the
pandemic, all major points of community instability fell disproportionately on
people of color and women. The report recommends intentional, equitable
investments in these communities to establish an economic base that provides
for all residents, which will enable the community to better weather future
crises.
The final report contains
recommendations in three categories:
- Support: Short-term critical needs
such as housing, food security and human service infrastructure.
- Readiness: Mid-term stabilization
needs, with a focus on digital inclusion, child care, workforce and higher
education.
- Development: Long-range topics of
community and economic development.
“The pandemic laid
bare many of our community’s needs, and these recommendations are meant to be a
strategic framework to address certain systems, services and programs that need
attention and investment now for an equitable recovery,” said Christie Angel,
president and CEO of YWCA, who chaired the committee. “This is an opportunity
to join together to create a better future for the residents and businesses of
Columbus and Franklin County.”
“I appreciate the hard work of the
committee members to identify action-oriented community goals,” said Columbus
City Council President Shannon Hardin, committee co-chair. “This moment is a
time to do big things for and with working families in Columbus.”
Community leaders have already taken
initial action on several of the report’s recommendations. In support of
recommended improvements to equitable and accessible community child care
infrastructure, Columbus State Community College today also announced the
future rollout of no-cost education training access for Childcare Development
Associate credentialing for child care workers, the creation of a regional
child care employer hiring placement center, and plans for a multi-million
dollar downtown campus child care center and educator innovation learning lab
funded by the college’s voter-approved Franklin County bond issue.
Other investments and commitments
already initiated include:
- The City of Columbus, Franklin
County and the State of Ohio have together distributed more than $50
million in utility and rental assistance to 25,170 central Ohio tenants
(Recovery and Resiliency recommendation #6).
- The City of Columbus announced the
Stable Housing Initiative, which funds rental assistance, supportive
services and targeted outreach to hard-to-reach Columbus residents who
have not yet accessed the emergency rental assistance available to them
(Recovery and Resiliency recommendation #7).
- The City of Columbus committed
$500,000 in American Rescue Plan dollars to fund 500 one-time $1,000
signing bonuses to help child care centers recruit new teachers or rehire
those who previously left the labor market (Recovery and Resiliency
recommendation #23).
- The City of Columbus dedicated $2.5
million in American Rescue Plan funds for 250 child care scholarships of
up to $10,000 for low-income families earning too much to qualify for
state subsides (Recovery and Resiliency recommendation #31).
“This was an intensive process, and the recommendations are
the result of months of work by leaders throughout the community,” said
Franklin County Commissioner John O’Grady, co-chair of the committee. “Just as
the community developed the recommendations, the community will play a crucial
role in collaboratively implementing and championing these important policies.”