Hamilton’s Goodman Place is getting a $240,000 boost aimed at helping residents stay housed, build daily-living skills and avoid slipping back into homelessness. The KeyBank Foundation investment will fund a full-time case manager for the YWCA Hamilton program serving people with chronic homelessness histories and certified disabilities.
The grant was announced Friday in a press release via Access Newswire. The new position is expected to support lease compliance, community engagement, daily routines and other services that can make permanent housing more stable for Butler County residents.
Goodman Place operates 45 one-bedroom apartments inside the YWCA Hamilton building on Grand Boulevard. According to the YWCA Hamilton, applicants must live in Butler County, have documented homelessness through the coordinated-entry system and have a certified disability diagnosis.
A case manager aimed at keeping residents housed
The YWCA says the case manager will help residents with daily living skills, lease requirements and activities that strengthen connections to the surrounding community. The program served 148 individuals over the past three fiscal years, while residents remained housed for an average of more than 1,200 days annually, according to the investment announcement.
That kind of support is the practical difference between handing someone a key and helping them keep a home. Goodman Place combines affordable housing with trauma-informed services and is designed to prevent returns to homelessness rather than treating housing as a temporary stop.
Goodman Place was built around supportive services
The development follows a Housing First model and includes case management, counseling, health services and other assistance from the YWCA and eight community partners, Affordable Housing Finance reported. Residents pay 30% of their income toward rent through project-based vouchers from the Butler Metropolitan Housing Authority.
The project’s original Ohio housing proposal described the 45-unit development as a response to a major need for permanent supportive housing in the region. The Ohio Housing Finance Agency document said the apartments would serve chronically homeless individuals in Hamilton and Butler County while providing a safe, supportive living environment.
Private dollars meet a local housing gap
KeyBank Foundation says its community grants support safe, healthy and affordable communities, with affordable housing among its stated priorities. In a statement carried by KeyBank, the foundation describes its strategy as backing organizations that produce lasting, measurable improvements in residents’ quality of life.
For YWCA Hamilton, the funding adds staffing capacity to a program that also operates youth services, a domestic violence shelter and a 24/7 crisis hotline. The investment will not create another apartment overnight, but it gives the existing housing program more hands on deck—often the less flashy part of housing work and one of the most important.
