OCCD 2025 Spring Meeting

Our Ohio Conference of Community Development 2025 Spring Meeting is just around the corner. I’m excited that the one-day meeting will take place in downtown Columbus, at the Capital Suites Hotel. I’m hoping this new meeting space brings a fresh energy to our gathering and I’m looking forward to the opportunity for us all to connect in person. The meeting will be held during National Community Development Week and is in coordination with additional events being held at the same location Monday through Wednesday. OCCD and the National Community Development Association Region V leadership have worked diligently over many months to offer an Environmental Review training on April 21 and a National Community Development Association Region V conference April 22-23. I hope you consider adding these learning opportunities to your schedule. Information and registration are available at www.occd.org.

We’ve strategized to develop a meeting agenda we hope you’ll find to be timely and helpful as you continue to serve the residents of Ohio.

As usual, the meeting will include an Ohio State Legislative Update from Anthony E. Core, Principal, Squire Patton Boggs. If you’re interested in an update concerning changes at the federal level, Vicki Watson, Executive Director of the National Community Development Association will provide a Washington Update on Tuesday at the NCDA Region V conference.

The Civil Rights Act of 1968 was signed into law on April 11, 1968 prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex, (and as amended) handicap and family status. In recognition of this important step towards ending housing discrimination, the month of April is celebrated as Fair Housing Month. Fittingly, OCCD’s Spring meeting agenda includes a presentation by The Ohio Civil Rights Commission and will cover State of Ohio Fair Housing protections. Additionally, the Miami Valley Fair Housing Center, Inc. will provide a session on Fair Housing planning in the aftermath of disasters.

During another session, community development professionals from the East Palestine area will share about the locality’s resilience and recovery efforts of the past two years resulting from the impacts of the February 3, 2023 Norfolk Southern freight train derailment.

As community development practitioners, this moment in time is historic and the issues we’re considering in our work are new and complicated. I hope you all have been taking good care and giving yourself the grace to be unsure and maybe even worried during the past few transitional and confusing months. I recall our last meeting in January and reflect that week’s issuance of Executive Order M-24-13, which was later rescinded. Even though our winter meeting was held virtually it was comforting to me to be together with you all, learning from our impressive presenters. Staying informed and gaining insight from others is always important but it’s especially crucial as we all look to implement important community development work throughout the State of Ohio.

I’d like to close with a personal perspective about something I feel is important to reiterate to OCCD membership: networking is a necessity.  I believe this to be true now more than I ever have. When the pool of experienced and knowledgeable professionals to whom I can turn, and from whom I can learn  is large and diverse, I am able to implement better solutions for challenges I face in my work. I hope you feel the same and join us at the next OCCD meeting, or another meeting in the near future, so that we can better get to know each other.