Emerald Development and Economic Network, Inc.

EDEN, Inc. will be a leader in efforts to end homelessness by:

Developing, operating, and administering safe, decent, affordable housing which will enable the community's most vulnerable individuals and families to live with hope and dignity.

Developing and maintaining collaborative partnerships that foster and increase resources to create initiatives and strategies in support of our mission.

Developing a culture which attracts and retains highly qualified and committed staff.

EDEN, Inc. is a nationally recognized housing provider, and employs multiple strategies to addressing homelessness in Northeast Ohio, including the following:

1. The development, ownership, and management of permanent supportive housing (PSH).
2. The ownership and management of scattered site properties (including residential care facilities, save havens, a recovery house, and an emergency shelter).
3. The administration of affordable housing programs.

EDEN also employs dedicated Housing Stability staff, and partners with dozens of community-based agencies to connect residents to clinical services, in order to support residents in sustaining their housing.

Overarching the above-listed strategies is a housing-first approach to addressing chronic homelessness, wherein lease compliance is the only condition of housing, and participation by residents in services is voluntary. When EDEN joined our partners in 2006 as one of the first coalitions championing the housing-first model, it was viewed as a revolutionary. Over a decade later, we continue to use this highly effective, compassionate, cost-effective model to support our community's most vulnerable members.

EDEN has been been developing our expertise as a leader in providing housing solutions in Northeast Ohio for almost thirty years. Commensurate with our expanding reach, we have grown our staff from three to 148 people. We also partner with dozens of local community-based agencies to leverage respective resources and proficiencies and optimize our impact.

Ending homelessness is not simply "wishful thinking" at EDEN. The organization draws over 28 years of experience, as well as local and national partnerships and expertise, to develop proven approaches with measurable benefits for our community. EDEN’s multi-pronged approach to providing a basic need—and a basic right—and improving the health and well-being of all people living in our community, is rooted in both heart-filled compassion, as well as hard-headed pragmatism. Since its founding, EDEN has developed a wealth of institutional knowledge about the opportunities and challenges of housing persons with disabilities. This has allowed EDEN to make an extraordinary impact throughout the region.

Since its inception in 1991, EDEN has accomplished the following:

- The development, ownership, and management of 13permanent supportive housing (PSH) facilities, totaling 800 units, and the management of another two more PSH buildings, totaling 71 units.

- The ownership and management of over 70 scattered site properties, including 65 independent living properties (totaling over 200 units); five residential care facilities; two safe havens; one recovery house; and the Norma Herr Women's Center, an emergency shelter for women.

- The administration of 19 affordable housing programs, providing rental subsidies to approximately 3,000 households every month.

- The administration of supportive programs including housing stabilization, rapid re-housing, and more.

All told, EDEN serves more than 4,500 households every year through our programs and services.