President’s Message

Dear OCCH Partners,

As you know, these are extraordinary times. Normally in the spring, we hope you are enjoying the warmer weather, breaking ground on new projects, preparing for ribbon-cuttings. Today, we hope you are staying home and staying healthy, as much as possible. We share your concern for residents, staff, family and neighbors dramatically impacted by the Global Pandemic.

We assure you that the Board, Leadership Team and staff at Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing (OCCH) and its affiliates remain fully engaged and have worked aggressively over the past several weeks to:

   •  assess, identify and mitigate risks to projects and investors;

   •  innovate strategies to meet the urgent needs of GPs and residents;

   •  facilitate continued work on current projects;

   •  collaborate with development partners on new tax credit applications;

   •  raise capital for our multi-investor Fund XXX and proprietary funds; and

   •  take care of one another and OCCH.

In others words, we remain open for business and fully engaged in the work of supporting affordable housing. While the situation is very fluid and changing day-by-day, the team at OCCH is working hard to remain connected and responsive to the needs of our partners.

The stories we have heard from you on the frontlines range from heart-breaking to heart-warming. Our own CPO staff members are checking in with seniors on the phone, connecting residents to food pantries, school supplies and other services, performing emergency repairs as safely as possible, and in general, showing up for work on a skeleton basis with compassion and good humor, while sharing the struggles you are probably facing in acquiring adequate PPE and cleaning supplies. You remind us that even now, spring is the season of HOPE.

We know that a new tomorrow will follow on this crisis, and we are preparing today to meet what we know will be an even greater increase in the need for quality affordable housing. To that end, we have added several experienced staff to fill vacancies: Marcus Vivona, Vice President of Risk and Asset Management; Ben Goates, Vice President, Development; Jodi Stickel, Lending Program Specialist, OCFC; Ashley Castricone, Development Assistant; and Ryan Schmitt, Development Analyst. We accelerated technology and system investments to help our team transition seamlessly from working in the office to working from home. These investments will also help drive highly efficient service to our partners when we return to the office. And we are moving forward in strategic planning to assure that OCCH remains the effective and focused partner you have come to expect.

Stay Healthy. Stay Home. Stay Hopeful.

Peg Moertl
President and CEO