Cincinnati Office of Opportunity highlights City rental-housing platform and launches grocery-delivery pilot

The Cincinnati Office of Opportunity on Tuesday presented early results from a newly launched rental-housing website and outlined a grocery-delivery pilot aimed at Wynton Hills residents.

Tiffany Brown, director and chief operating officer of the Office of Opportunity, told the Economic and Cultural Opportunity Committee that the City partnered with Citywise Software to launch the rental-housing platform on the city's domain on Dec. 1. Brown said the office recorded 11,156 users and more than 27,000 page views in January, with roughly 32% of searches filtered to income-restricted or affordable listings and 68% market-rate searches. "Our mission is to be a model for breaking barriers and building futures," Brown said.

Brown said the platform allows users to enter income and be matched to units based on area median income (AMI) and can filter for properties owned by the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority and other income-restricted listings. She also said the City will receive about 10% of net proceeds from market-rate listings on the platform and that those proceeds can be directed toward eviction-prevention efforts or other housing initiatives.

Council member Anna Albee asked whether the tool could match tenants with units targeted at, for example, 60% AMI. Brown answered that Citywise's platform and its community-engagement team are designed to capture income and match qualifying tenants with appropriate listings.

The office also described a grocery-delivery pilot launched in October with Kroger and the Wynton Hills Community Council. Brown said 120 participants are enrolled, with up to 200 slots available. Each participant receives grocery delivery for 12 months plus a $100 monthly credit; Brown framed that as $1,200 per participant over the year. The City is funding the program at $240,000, and Kroger contributed $20,000 to support free delivery. Brown said about 108 participants have completed program surveys so far, a survey participation rate she described as roughly 90%.

Brown said the office is working with the Office of Performance and Data Analytics (OPDA) to collect qualitative measures of impact, including questions about missed meals, food-stretching behaviors and participant well-being. "We're able to get data in real time. And if we need to pivot, we can do that," she said.

She also told the committee the pilot's initial eligibility was defined by the Wynton Hills Community Council's neighborhood map and that the office broadened eligibility during contracting to avoid a USDA waiver requirement. Brown said initial demographic data indicates about 80% of participants report household incomes under $25,000 and many already participate in SNAP or other food programs.

Committee members praised the program. Council member Scotty Johnson said, "Director Brown has done a great job," and highlighted Brown's prior experience in Lexington, Ky., as contributing to the office's approach.

Brown also outlined other contracts the office manages, including a boots-on-the-ground partnership with the Greater Cincinnati Foundation (about $750,000), Project Lift (about 10% of the human services budget, roughly $880,000) run with United Way, and leverage-support funds for the African American and Hispanic chambers of commerce.

Brown asked to return to the committee with additional detail on Project Lift's homeownership component, which she described as an 18-month cohort-based individual development account program that requires a minimum credit score (stated as 580), offers credit repair and budgeting supports, and includes a down-payment match Brown described in the presentation as "15 to 1" (the office said it will return with fuller program terms).

The committee filed the presentation item and moved on to the next agenda item. The Office of Opportunity said it will continue to collect and analyze platform and pilot data and report back to the committee.