Homeless shelter Bethany House plans to consolidate services in Bond Hill

by Alexis Liu

Local 12 (WKRC) reports that amidst financial struggles and an increased need for its services, Cincinnati’s largest homeless shelter, Bethany House Services, has plans to consolidate its programs in Bond Hill. The programs, which are currently spread across five shelters in Fairmount, Westwood, College Hill and Bond Hill, will be anchored in a new 50,000 square foot facility adjoining St. Aloysius.

As it struggled with its own funding cuts in recent years, St. Aloysius successfully sought Bond Hill Community Council support to first lease, then sell, land to Bethany House Services. St. Aloysius sold the 0.752 acre, 4 parcel site to Bethany house in November 2018 for $747,000, according to records from the Hamilton County Auditor.

BHCC membership has largely embraced the shelter, which offers temporary housing to homeless families, even as community members have repeatedly voiced skepticism about building affordable permanent housing in the community. Bethany House Services currently has 170 beds for people in need of housing, with only a fraction of those beds currently located in Bond Hill. With a letter of support from The Bond Hill Community Council, Bethany House has secured funding to expand that facility and bring the scatter-site beds from Cincinnati’s West Side, to Bond Hill.

The Port, meanwhile, failed in its bid to bring 75 affordable apartments to the largely vacant Bond Hill Business District.

Bethany House Services reports that need for its services are up 27% this year, underlining Cincinnati’s affordable housing crisis and child poverty epidemic.