OCCD 2019 Spring Quarterly Meeting

With Winter weather behind us (hopefully) and blooms a few weeks away, it is also time to begin looking toward the 2019 OCCD Spring Quarterly.

The OCCD Staff and Board invite you to attend this year's Spring Quarterly Meeting, which will be held on April 24th and 25th, 2019 at the DoubleTree Worthington (175 Hutchinson Ave, Columbus, OH 43235). This should be a great opportunity for us to expand our knowledge of community development through networking and informational sessions.

Because April is Fair Housing month, we begin Wednesday with a panel presentation focusing on the origins of the Fair Housing Act, the general requirements, and the current state of Fair Housing in the United States. Keeping with the theme, the second session will be an interactive Racial Wealth Gap Learning Simulation provided by the Hall Hunger Initiative, a community-based nonprofit, started by former Congressman Tony Hall, which focuses on food insecurity. The final session of Wednesday morning will be a presentation on SafeGrowth from the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Toledo.

Following our networking lunch, we will again offer attendees the opportunity to participate in a committee meeting of their choice, followed by our business meeting and updates on state and federal legislation. The Wednesday afternoon sessions will feature an overview of Habitat for Humanity and the work their regional affiliates around Ohio are doing to help Community Development efforts. The final session will feature an introduction to Downtown Revitalization from Heritage Ohio. The day will conclude with a networking reception.

On Thursday morning, we begin with two panel discussions. The first will highlight best practices in community vacant land management, featuring programs from Toledo and Columbus, and the second will provide an overview of Ohio Land Banks their powers , and the roles the organizations can play their communities. The meeting will conclude with the Entitlement and Small Cities meetings.

After the Quarterly Meeting, OCCD will be offering a Fair Housing Training from the Ohio Civil Rights Commission (OCRC). The training will cover Fair Housing laws and compliance, as well as the OCRC complaint process. Registration is $65 for members.

I look forward to seeing you on April 24th and 25th in Worthington.