Community partners at an event hosted by Impact Community Action praised the City of Columbus’s investments in housing-stability programs and urged continued support for prevention and legal‑aid services.

Beau Chilton, CEO of Impact Community Action, described the nonprofit’s work during the pandemic and said the organization “served over 40,000 people” and distributed about $132,000,000 in emergency rental assistance to help keep households housed. Chilton also highlighted Impact’s Empowered workforce program, saying it has graduated 95 young adults and has a current class of 24 preparing for careers in construction and clean energy.

Mary Motegi, who leads the Broad Street Presbyterian campus’s Compass program, said Compass responds to nearly 1,500 requests for help each month and assisted more than 373 households in fiscal 2024. Motegi endorsed prevention measures such as a rental registry, and welcomed the mayor’s new resilient housing initiative as a way to provide earlier interventions before eviction and homelessness.

John Dawson of Community for New Directions described the organization’s mental‑health and violence‑intervention work, including a six‑person violence intervention team that works in schools and community settings. Dawson emphasized relationships with schools and community anchors — including barber shops and salons — as settings that create trust with youth and allow early intervention.

Speakers framed their remarks as examples of partnerships with city government and faith institutions that the mayor and nonprofit leaders say helped distribute federal aid and build a local safety net. The nonprofit remarks preceded the mayor’s presentation of the 2026 operating budget.