Learn & Engage

Help with an Immediate Need

  • Pay for a month of rent to prevent eviction, an old utility bill that prevents securing permanent housing.

  • Sponsor an emergency hotel stay for families with children.

  • Sign up to take a hot meal to a family staying in a hotel.

  • Volunteer with the Love Force One team to help with housing emergencies.

Partner on the Housing Journey

  • Join the Love Columbia Coaching team to help people find affordable housing, increase income, and enhance financial well-being.

    • Housing Coach: create a housing budget, enhance rentability, identify housing options, learn tenant rights/ responsibilities.

    • Career Coach: create resume, apply for jobs, advance career.

    • Financial Coach: learn essential financial practices, save and reduce debt, raise credit score.

  • Volunteer with the Love Seat Furniture Bank to help a family move their belongings or donate items to be matched with a need.

  • Share your expertise in a homebuyer class: lending, real estate, insurance, inspection, maintenance.

VOLUNTEER

Create Affordable Housing

  • If you own rental property, consider how to make it more affordable.

    • Learn about programs to reduce costs to tenants (housing choice vouchers and energy efficiency improvement).

    • Consider renting to someone with a voucher or renting one of your units to a Love Columbia client at a lower rate.

    • Lend a unit to Love Columbia’s transitional housing program.

  • Buy property to create affordable housing. Consider revitalizing a neighborhood by repairing a neglected or vacant property.

  • If you are part of a faith community, learn how houses of worship have created affordable housing from their underutilized space/land.

  • If you are a developer, learn about funding options to build affordable housing and work with others to build units ranging from income-based apartments to starter homes.

  • If you are a concerned citizen, dream big and collaborate with others across the business, nonprofit and government sectors to find ways to finance and build the housing we desperately need. Many cities have established housing production trust funds, passed housing bonds, and found ways to fund/ incentivize building affordable housing.

Columbia’s Housing Story

Low supply coupled with post-pandemic inflation has given rise to extraordinary price increases that have pushed many into homelessness or priced them out of the homeownership market.

LOW SUPPLY:

  • Rental housing under $1,000 a month has declined 28% over the past five years. Only 35% is under $1,000.

  • Long waiting lists to obtain income-based housing. Only 1 out of 4 Columbians who qualify receive it. 

  • Columbia needs 3,800 units to meet housing needs for households earning under 50% of Area Median Income

HIGH COST:

  • Rent prices continue to rise. Since 2023, average rent for all size units increased 13-18%.

  • 51% of renters pay over 30% of their income in rent, and 27% pay over half their income.

  • Renters must earn $21.61 an hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment, and $28.33 for a three-bedroom. In 2025, families have to earn $2 more per hour to afford the same home as 2024.

  • Median home prices in Boone County have increased 60% since 2020, with home prices rising 11 times faster than income.

*Sources

  • Boone County and City of Columbia Housing Study, October 2024

  • National Low Income Housing Coalition

  • U.S. Census Bureau

Generational Impact

  • The National Eviction Lab reports the leading predictor of eviction in the United States is having children. Skyrocketing rents have priced families needing larger units out of the market, forcing many families to double up with others or seek shelter in pay-by-the week hotels or in congregate shelters that often house chronically homeless adults. There is rising concern about the generational impact of this increased homelessness.

  • According to Ranita Norwood, Columbia Public Schools Student Services Coordinator, transiency is the leading cause of poor academic performance. In March 2025, CPS reported 336 students experiencing homelessness.

  • The CDC’s long-term study of eviction and reported a correlation with child neglect and abuse following a family experiencing eviction. Placement in foster care becomes more likely. The stress of becoming homeless cannot be overstated. Unhoused parents often share the heart-breaking questions their children ask about where they will sleep that night or when they will have a home again.

The work of Love Columbia would not be possible without the generous financial support from individuals and organizations throughout the community.

Donate