Families Flourish Around Town

As Families Flourish expands to serve more families, we are working at a breakneck pace spreading the word around town about who we are and what we do. To see what we’ve been doing and what we’re up to next check out the list below.

Upcoming Events

Is Snob Zoning America's New Redlining?

Join Families Flourish at Columbus Metropolitan Club on Wednesday, November 29 at noon.

Featuring Richard D. Kahlenberg, Non-resident Scholar, Center on Education and Workforce, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University, Senior Fellow, Progressive Policy Institute, Professorial Lecturer, Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, George Washington University, and Author, Excluded: How Snob Zoning, NIMBYism, and Class Bias Build the Walls We Don’t See, and Shayla Favor, Member, Columbus City Council, with host Amy Klaben. President & CEO, Families Flourish.

Included: Real-Life Lessons for Deconstructing Exclusionary Communities

Researcher and author Richard Kahlenberg, who interviewed Families Flourish families in 2020 about their experiences in the program, has now turned his research into the book “Excluded.”

On Nov. 30 at 6:30 p.m. FF partners with CCAD to feature Kahlenberg with panelists Kumi Walker and Doug Ulman, who grew up together in Columbia, MD, a city designed to resist segregation.

RSVP above right, and buy your book in advance to have the author sign it after the evening's panel.

Power of Opportunity Fundraiser 2023

Families Flourish’s Power of Opportunity fundraiser is planned for Thursday, December 7, from 5:30-7 p.m. 

Eat, drink, DONATE, and meet some members of our new families and our pilot families. Watch this webpage for more details as the committee secures them.

Families Flourish makes affordable rental housing available in neighborhoods that offer access to green spaces, schools, safe neighborhoods, employment and other indicators of success so that all families at all income levels in Central Ohio have a true choice to live in a community of opportunity.

Be part of our growth! Tickets fuel our invitation for the next families to enter our unique program. The family you help may very well be a family living around the corner.

Host Us!

Help us meet your neighbors, friends, colleagues or fellow congregants!

Families Flourish is looking for willing hosts and sponsors to introduce us to more Central Ohio neighbors. Here’s how you can help:

Host a house party: Gather 5-50 of your friends in your living room or at your favorite gathering place. You bring the crowd and we’ll bring the information - easy as that.

Host us at your place of work: Do you belong to an employee resource group, professional development circle or does your company host regular community meetings? We would love 10 minutes to tell your colleagues about our work.

Introduce us to your faith community: FF has enjoyed the support of several Central Ohio faith groups. If your congregation has a mission committee, a regular program with speaker needs, or another way to connect, please consider an invitation to Move to PROSPER.

Invite us to book club: Recently a MTP donor’s book club was reading “Evicted” and invited FF CEO & President and reknowned housing expert Amy Klaben to speak. Do you have a similar opportunity?

Past Events

Pilot Prosperity Briefing

OSU Lead Evaluator Dr. Jason Reece presented his team’s final report on the MTP pilot program, which hosted 10 families from 2018-2022. Reece was preceded by remarks from Huntington’s Sue Zazon, Kroger’s Amy McCormick, Oakwood Communities Co. CEO Keith Jones, Vice President of the Ohio Medical Board Dr. Jonathan Feibel, Ohio Chamber of Commerce CEO Steve Stivers, T. Marzetti Vice President Clarence Mingo, and Families Flourish co-founder and President & CEO Amy Klaben.

You can see video from the event on our YouTube page.

Westerville MLK Day

MTP co-founder and board member Dr. Rachel Kleit appeared on a panel for Leadership Westerville’s MLK Day commemoration.

Power of Opportunity: Nourishing Growth

Dec. 1 | 5:30-7 p.m.

Move to PROSPER’s Power of Opportunity fundraiser is back in person in 2022 on Thursday, December 1 from 5:30-7 p.m. at Cardinal Health (7200 Cardinal Pl., Dublin, 43017).

The theme is Nourishing Growth and our keynote is Columbus’ own Alexis Nikole Nelson, aka “The Black Forager,” who is a James Beard Award winner and was featured this summer on CBS News. Her journey is a celebration of what makes MTP families amazing - it’s a story of resilience, problem-solving, and reaching for your dreams.

Making opening remarks on behalf of U.S. Housing & Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge, Anthony Forte, HUD's Field Office Director for the Columbus office, will talk about why his office loves the MTP approach.

You will also hear from MTP pilot and expansion coach Gina Smith.

And have you always wondered "what happens for a family after Move to PROSPER?" Pilot mom Bessie Jackson will join us to tell her story.

Eat, drink, DONATE, and meet some members of our new families and our pilot families.