03/12/2020

Lucas Metropolitan Housing Official Statement about the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

Contacts:
Joaquin Cintron Vega
Email Joaquin
(419) 259-9400

Toledo, Ohio, March 12, 2020 - Lucas Metropolitan Housing (LMH) is closely monitoring the progress of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) as it continues to spread. LMH is taking precautions to help minimize the amount of people affected and help slow the threat of the virus following the guidelines and recommendations from the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, the Ohio Department of Health and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Ohio Health Department has a 4th confirmed case of COVID-19. The individual is a man, mid50s, in Stark County. He has no travel history outside the U.S., which means Ohio has a case of "community spread." This individual is currently hospitalized, and local health officials are working on the number of contacts he had in the weeks before becoming ill.

The experts expect COVID-19 cases to continue to grow as the virus spreads and the number of tests performed increases. As of now, based on the statistics from the Ohio Department of Health, there are 52 persons under investigation, 30 negatives and 5 positive cases reported in Ohio. The cumulative number of individuals under health supervision is 333.

It is very clear that if unattended, COVID-19 has the potential to grow within our area and spread exponentially. We are acting now to try to avoid this spread as much as possible. We must face this challenge and control the situation as much as we can.

Considering the most recent information, LMH is taking action to ensure the health and safety of our staff, our clients, visiting partners and the communities we serve. This action plan is consistent with the actions taken by the local government, and in a larger scale, by the State of Ohio. We are preparing our staff and our communities to collaborate with the joint efforts that LMH, and our community partners, are taking against the COVID-19.

During the past few days, Lucas Metropolitan Housing (LMH) Leadership has been working on an action plan to address this emergency.

LMH is implementing a three-phased work plan defined by:

Continued Education Phase: to continue providing information and guidance about COVID-19 to employees and LMH's clients including public housing residents and other programs' participants.
Active Prevention Phase: to enforce actions that avoids COVID-19 from spreading.
Business Continuity Phase: to guarantee the continuity of LMH Operations and services to LMH's clients including public housing residents and other programs' participants.

We must come together, working in a coordinated effort to ensure the safety and well-being of our families, friends and others. Every single affirmative action will make a difference.

About Lucas Metropolitan Housing:
Established in 1933, Lucas Metropolitan Housing (LMH) continues to provide affordable housing to adults, seniors and children in its Public Housing, Housing Choice Voucher, Mixed-Income and Market Rate housing units. LMH also provides a myriad of programs and opportunities designed to improve the total quality of life for our residents, with the goal of achieving self-sufficiency. The programs and services are the result of successful collaborations with numerous community partners.

Our current housing portfolio consists of 2,633 Public Housing units: 4,657 Housing Choice Vouchers, 322 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit units, 198 Market Rate units and 107 Homeownership Properties. There are approximately 17,500 people who reside in LMH properties. Lucas Metropolitan Housing partners with ALL people and organizations willing to exchange ideas and efforts to enhance Toledo, Lucas County and the world.