Vista Village: More Than A Home

Can an innovative new project in Columbus provide hope, housing, and healing for the homeless by creating a community that fosters employment, self-sufficiency, and independent living?

Vista Village, Inc., is a new-to-Ohio, affordable housing project aiming to do just that. The partner-driven project is working now to help people move from homelessness to safe affordable housing while providing wraparound services in collaboration with generous business partners and key community agencies.

Key project backers include well-known names in Columbus: Steiner + Associates, developer Jeff Edwards, EMH&T President Sandy Doyle-Ahern, MKSK, and the Robert Weiler Co.

The Vista Village initiative is attempting to create a new community from scratch, where the homeless can live in a home of their own, expand on their strengths, and develop the skills to help themselves transition to stable, permanent housing.

Central to the Vista Village model are 41 microhomes, each measuring just 420 square feet, a 4,500-square-foot community center, a community garden, a park, and green space. Every Vista Village microhome will have a bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, and a front porch.

The Village’s goal is to provide safe housing and bring in supportive services to help the residents transition from a state of homelessness to economic independence and permanence. Thanks to partnerships with third-party social service agencies, residents will have access to primary care, mental health treatment, substance abuse recovery programs, GED programs, vocational skills training, and other supportive services.

Led by Columbus attorney John Perez, Vista Village leaders will break ground this year on the Village’s 15-acre site south of Refugee Road and west of Hamilton Road. On May 18, CMC will welcome Perez, Sandy Doyle-Ahern, President, EMH&T, and Sandy Stephenson, Chief Healthcare Officer, Southeast Healthcare, to discuss the initiative’s bold vision and to explore how Vista Village might serve as a model for other communities struggling to address the nation’s homeless crisis. Kerry Charles, Anchor, WCMH NBC4, will host.

JOIN US IN THE ROOM for this discussion on May 18th, in person audience seating is available. Please make reservations by Tuesday, May 17th. We cannot accommodate walk ins.

You can also still join us on the CMC YouTube Channel to view and participate in the community conversation during this livestream event. We encourage you to register and support CMC by purchasing a virtual seat – different levels of support are available when you register! When you register, you can submit questions in advance.

We also ask you to consider making donations to CMC to support our mission of Connecting People and Ideas Through Community Conversation, even if you are unable to join us for this particular forum.