Northeast Ohio Coalition for Homeless

neoch@neoch.org

In 1989, the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) was started by people with lived experience and local homeless advocates to affirm unhoused people’s dignity and defend their rights to exist. NEOCH is governed by a board of community volunteers, social service providers, lawyers and community advocates and exists to eliminate the root causes of homelessness while loving our diverse community through organizing, advocacy, education, and street outreach.

Our work includes advocacy and organizing to push for policies that end homelessness and build housing justice including ending the criminalization of unhoused people. Our education work operates with the goal of increasing community awareness of the oppression and inequity in homelessness and housing systems and leading those working and living in these contexts to organize and advocate for change. We also provide direct street outreach to people living unsheltered to provide them access to humanitarian aid, resources, and housing, while coordinate homeless outreach agencies to provide trauma informed and person-centered accompaniment to people living on the streets.

We envision a society where everyone has a safe and stable place to call home where they can also embrace their own power and dignity. We know reaching this goal begins with pushing society, particularly service providers and the government, to treat people experiencing homelessness with dignity and respect.