In Northwest Ohio鈥檚 Williams County, it isn鈥檛 hard to find a job: Local leaders say the county鈥檚 economic growth is expected to outpace Toledo鈥檚, in Lucas County.
But it is hard to find a place to live in Williams County, which a recent housing study found is about 400 units short of the projected need.
The county鈥檚 only homeless shelter, the Sanctuary, is constantly filled to capacity. It estimates it turns away more than 500 people each year.
鈥淲e can't get people out faster because there's nowhere for them to go,鈥� said Pastor Mike Kelly, the shelter鈥檚 executive director. 鈥淭hey have the money to move, but they have nowhere to move to.鈥�
Feeling left behind by big government, county and local business leaders decided to take matters into their own hands.
鈥淲e realized that nobody is coming to save us,鈥� said Edgerton Village Administrator Dawn Fitzcharles. 鈥淲e have to save ourselves.鈥�
Now, they鈥檙e building solutions to the housing shortage one brick at a time.
Personal impact of the housing shortage
Tucked into Ohio鈥檚 top corner between Indiana and Michigan, Williams County is easy to overlook.
鈥淎 lot of Ohioans don't know that we exist because we're on the other side of Toledo,鈥� Fitzcharles said.
But in late 2023, the county garnered after its largest city, Bryan, filed criminal charges against the pastor of Dad鈥檚 Place, who sheltered homeless people in his church.
鈥淲e realized that nobody is coming to save us. We have to save ourselves.鈥�Dawn Fitzcharles, Williams County Port Authority
The case highlighted the severity of the housing shortage in the rural community. Two years later, it鈥檚 still an issue.
As related to the incident work their way through the courts, Dad鈥檚 Place continues to stay open 24/7, offering refuge to locals like Kelly Barron.
Her former partner kicked her out of their longtime home, Barron said, so she packed up her belongings and headed to Dad鈥檚 Place. The church doesn鈥檛 have beds, so people sleep with their heads bowed on tables, but it at least provides a place to stay cool during the hot summer.
鈥淚 have a roof over my head,鈥� Barron said. 鈥淚鈥檓 living directly out of my car, but I'm not sleeping in my car.鈥�
The temporary arrangement is working for now. But Barron is intimidated by the prospect of finding a permanent place to live.
鈥淓verything's so spare,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t's like, where do I go?鈥�
Economic Impact
shows Williams County needs around 400 additional units to meet demand. It鈥檚 not just impacting individuals like Barron, it鈥檚 taking a toll on local businesses.
Williams county is rural, but its manufacturing base is 4.5 times the national average, Fitzcharles said, made up of big names like Dum-Dum maker Spangler Candy and the Ohio Art Company 鈥� known for once producing the Etch A Sketch.
鈥淥nce COVID became a thing of the past, business for all of us just really picked up,鈥� said Spangler Candy President Bill Martin. 鈥淥ur town only [has] 8,000 people, so when we all have to hire at the same time, it gets pretty nerve wracking trying to find people.鈥�
At one point, Spangler Candy offered jobs to a Michigan couple with factory experience.
鈥淭hey could afford to buy a house because they had saved their money, but there wasn't really anything available in their price range,鈥� Martin said. 鈥淎nd so they couldn't come to work for us.鈥�
Martin knew the quickest way to remedy the situation would be to build multi-family housing, and there are existing programs to offset the cost: The federal government offers to developers looking to build affordable units.
鈥淏ut all that money was going to the big cities in Ohio, because they were having the same kind of growth struggle that we were, just on a bigger scale,鈥� he said.
Problem solving at a local level
Without more housing, the population of Williams County is expected to continue declining. So, Martin and local business and government leaders like Fitzcharles decided to do something to turn the trend around.
Both are now on the board of the , which, in a public-private partnership, has raised more than a million dollars from the county and area businesses to invest exclusively in housing.
So far, the Port has constructed and sold 16 single-family homes, and a team is hammering away on its first duplex.
鈥淸The Port Authority] is the biggest builder in Williams County,鈥� Martin said. 鈥淣obody's building more homes than we are.鈥�
The Port aims to sell its homes for between $175,000 and $185,000. That means they may sometimes take a loss. If they do earn a profit, it goes toward future projects, Fitzcharles said.
Next up, the Port is planning a 50-unit senior living community.
After five failed attempts, the Port Authority got its application approved through the federal tax credit program to make the development possible.
鈥淭hat's our first development of that magnitude in 25 years,鈥� Fitzcharles said.
She recognizes it will only make a small dent in the hundreds of units Williams County needs.
鈥淲e're taking bites out of the elephant,鈥� she said.
But she鈥檚 hopeful the work will pay off, attracting new people to a county with old business.
