March/April Change for Charity Partner: Move to PROSPER

Our March and April Change for Charity partner is Move to PROSPER – an organization with a mission to give Central Ohio kids a chance to live in our region’s highest-resourced neighborhoods, providing access to schools with more resources, lower crime, and access to features like sidewalks and green spaces that create physical and mental wellness for families. Move to PROSPER was piloted by The Ohio State University’s City and Regional Planning program and community partners working to improve life outcomes for children and their families.

Columbus is ranked the second-most economically segregated metro area in the US, with many of the neighborhoods in the central city and inner ring suburbs completely isolated from community resources. Compared to the rest of the region, these neighborhoods have higher rates of crime and lower performing schools, resulting in families experiencing toxic stress, increased economic and housing instability, and negative impacts to education, employment, and health.

Move to PROSPER‘s work sets families up for success, providing services that help them navigate the difficulties of relocating to a community with safe, decent, healthy, and affordable housing in Central Ohio. These relocation services include:

• Three years of rental support — $400 per month per family for three years to help offset housing costs.
• Affordable housing in safe neighborhoods.
• Schools that are higher-resourced and provide children with a more complete learning environment.
• Coaching that provides tools for becoming financially stable, and transforming lives through increased educational opportunities, financial wellness activities, the ability to focus on increasing income, and creating multi-generational opportunities to learn these important skills.

“In our old school, my son was labeled as a bad kid. But in our new school, they identified the problem and have taught him how to deal with anything that comes his way – and they did it with love.”

Why is this work so important? Research suggests that children who live in stable households in high-opportunity neighborhoods before reaching age 13 have positive long-term outcomes, like:

• 31% higher incomes in early adulthood
• 26% less likely to become teen mothers
• 70% lower risk of severe anxiety disorders
• 32% more likely to attend college
• $302,000 high lifetime earnings

Give a kid a ZIP code with unlimited possibilities.

When you park at a Change for Charity meter, pay an Easton parking ticket, or make a donation to Move to PROSPER, you’re making an important investment in our community. We are proud to support this important work, as it continues to demonstrate growth across multiple dimensions of well-being, like positive transitions into new schools, improved academic performance, improved health, and higher self-esteem for youths, and a reduction in stress in parents,, resulting in increased engagement and efficacy, and improved financial and professional wellness.

We are proud to support this important work and hope you will too. Park at one of our Change for Charity parking meters, pay an Easton parking ticket, or make a donation directly to the organization.

Short Term Parking. Long Term Impact.

Our Change for Charity Program designates a new organization every two months to receive a portion of the meter proceeds and ticket revenue generated at Easton, allowing us to donate $2.1 million to over 85 organizations. Check out our list of past recipients here.