TIFFIN, Ohio — In Seneca County, two groups are coming together to tackle and help address homelessness.
According to Data USA, more than 9% of Seneca County was living with severe housing problems in 2023.
Sisters of St. Francis has been serving the Tiffin Community for 155 years. Now, they are teaming up with New Housing Ohio to further their mission of providing resources and affordable housing to those who need it the most.
"We're very pleased that we can continue this mission with New Housing Ohio and expand it,” Sister Joanne Lammers, community minister and president of Sisters of St. Francis said.
New Housing Ohio is a nonprofit developer and provider of specialized housing solutions for people recovering from addiction and those experiencing homelessness.
"To me, this literally is a wraparound home run for the community because it's going to help us with homelessness," Aaron Montz, president and CEO of Tiffin-Seneca Economic Partnership said. "It's going to help us with affordable housing for families and it is going to help us with our workforce issues locally."
The spirituality center in the St. Francis community is being used as the first step in this venture by providing a place for the homeless. The funding for the project will include grants, federal programs and national foundations.
"We're going to take one step at a time and see how we can develop this together,” Lammers said.
"A project that just has the ability to impact the community for generations, this is it," Montz said. "So I'm thrilled."
The project is set to begin in July 2025 and continue gradually over the next seven to 10 years to expand services.