It was released last month and looked at factors such as tax revenue, employment opportunities as well as the physical construction of affordable housing, counseling services and educational programs offered by the nonprofit and its community partners.
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“That money is circulating in the economy and hopefully growing,” said Alison Goebel, the executive director of the Greater Ohio Policy Center.
Her organization is a nonprofit that pushes for policies that benefit the state’s urban areas.
The study was part of a larger analysis on the NeighborWorks Collaborative of Ohio that consist of 10 member organizations across the state, including the NHP in Springfield. Those organizations work towards greater access to affordable housing as well as addressing specific needs in their communities said the collaborative’s executive director Nathan Minerd.
He said the point of the study is to show the communities they serve that dollars marked for housing projects, repairs and financial education programs not only benefit particular families or individuals but the community as a whole.
Minerd said money and resources invested in communities by governmental agencies, the private sector and through charitable support has a trickle down effect on local economies as well as the state’s.
The 10 organizations associated with NeighborWorks in Ohio helped contribute over $655 million to the state’s economy during a five-year period, according to the Greater Ohio Policy Center.
That economic impact of those organizations can be through the amount of employees, the cost of local materials needed to patch up a roof or build a home or through dollars spent on local contractors to do that work, said Goebel.
By encouraging home ownership, organizations such as the NHP in Springfield can have an indirect impact on the economy.
“When you buy a house that asset is transferred to another. Where you see new revenue is through closing fess and professional fess around that asset,”Goebel added.
The Greater Ohio Policy Center used the economic impact analysis tool IMPLAN to gauge how much money has been contributed by NHP’s presence in the area it serves.
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Formed in 2002, the NHP in Springfield works to provide financial education, credit coaching, coordinates emergency home repairs, offers loans and has served as the developer for some affordable housing projects. That includes being the developer for affordable housing such as Community Gardens in Springfield, which currently has 50 rentable units with the plan of adding 60 more, said Greg Womacks, the executive director of the NHP.
According to the recent study, his organization, which operates on an annual budget of $750,000, generated $9.2 million in labor income, $2.94 million in tax revenue and created or sustained 189 jobs between 2014 and 2018.
During that period, the NHP is estimated to have contributed $8,511,892 for the construction of new multi-family residential structures and contributed $5,035,348 both directly and indirectly to the real estate sector, according to the study.
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