Anne Feurer, treasurer and board member of Oxford Area Solutions for Housing, briefed Butler County commissioners on local efforts to provide emergency cold shelter and connect people to stable housing in the Oxford area.

Feurer said OASH has worked for three years to map the local need, participated in federal HUD point‑in‑time counts and mobilized churches, foundations and social‑service agencies to stand up rotating overnight shelter during the cold months. “We have about a 100 people in the Oxford area that we counted, last year and the year before that who are unhoused, during the coldest time of the year,” Feurer said.

OASH plans to ask the city of Oxford for financial support for a rotating shelter model, drawing on volunteers and space offered by three churches that agreed to host shelter nights. The McCullough Hyde Foundation previously provided financial support and is expected to do so again, Feurer said. TOPS (a local service provider) will handle guest vetting and some services; OASH said the model aims to pair overnight shelter with case‑management referrals to service partners to move people toward stable housing.

Commissioner Carpenter and other commissioners praised the community coalition approach and thanked OASH for coordinating local partners. Feurer said OASH is also developing public‑education events, including a community reads program and film screenings, to build awareness of local homelessness needs.

Discussion only: presentation described community organizing, use of faith‑based facilities for rotating shelter, and partnership with social‑service agencies. No county funding decision was requested during the presentation, though Feurer thanked commissioners for prior ARPA support for a 1‑stop building in the region.