CINCINNATI — At a presentation to a joint meeting of Cincinnati city officials and Cincinnati Public Schools, the district's arm to serve homeless students, Project Connect, announced that 3,496 students were experiencing some level of homelessness in 2023.
That number had risen each year from 2,356 in 2017.
Josh Spring, executive director of the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition, said it may come as a shock to many that there are a significant amount of students in the Cincinnati region experiencing homelessness.
"Many kids go unnoticed," Spring said. "They don't come in with it on their foreheads, right? The teachers don't know."
Spring praised the work Project Connect does in the school system as many of the students wouldn't qualify for most forms of federal aid and would largely be left without assistance while trying to graduate.
Project Connect Project Manager Rebeka Beach said homeless students are 87% more likely to drop out of school than their housed counterparts, but with the assistance of Project Connect, CPS's unhoused graduation rate outperforms the national average.
Still, Spring said there was only one true solution to the problem of students having to go without homes.
"The answer is housing," he said.
Cincinnati Vice-Mayor Jan-Michele Kearney acknowledged that affordable housing was a significant problem in the city and said the region would need 28,000 more units to meet the demand.
"We know we have an affordable housing problem," she said.
Kearney said the city's urban development fund had roughly $80 million on hand to address issues like affordable housing construction and maintenance, but Spring argued the city would need a replenishing fund.
He argued for voters to pass Issue 24, which will appear on the November ballot for many. The issue would raise the earnings tax back to pre-pandemic levels and provide Cincinnati an estimated $40 to $50 million in additional funding targeted to affordable housing.
Kearney, however, said no matter what happens with a November vote the city would soon have to make sure there was enough money to go around for a host of issues during a budget shortfall.
"Whether or not the earnings tax is a correct way to do it is yet to be determined. The mayor has appointed a futures commission, and we know the city will be facing a deficit, maybe 40 million dollars."
In the meantime, Beach said Project Connect relies on public donations of money, food, clothing, hygiene items and more, and anyone interested in lending struggling students a hand can reach them through their website.
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