There are letters being sent to the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Prisons calling on the agencies to immediately release incarcerated individuals, who are either elderly or have chronic health conditions, to reduce the risk posed by Covid-19. The request came as the number of coronavirus cases grow throughout Ohio jails. As of the writing of this article there are 23 coronavirus related deaths at Pickaway Correctional Institution in central Ohio, according to the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. A guard and a prison nurse have also died.

No matter what time he was told to be on the work site, Joseph Love Jr. arrived early. His supervisors noted that the habit held during the coldest and snowiest days.

“I’ve been incarcerated, and I turned it around,” Love said. “When I got out, I told myself, ‘I’m going to do the right thing. No matter what.’”

The Columbus area has an abundance of retail and service industry jobs and an undersupply of applicants in northern areas around Interstate 270 and an oversupply of applicants on the city’s South Side, according to a new Urban Institute study that focuses on the mismatch between where available jobs are and where those seeking jobs live.

Five nonprofit groups have received $120,000 in grants from the city of Columbus to restore houses while teaching construction skills to at-risk youths and former offenders.

Robert “Bo” Chilton of Impact Community Action said his program helps to address a housing-affordability crisis and teaches skills to help people become self-sufficient.

Robert “Bo” Chilton, IMPACT Community Action’s Chief Executive Officer is interviewed by the Columbus & Dayton African American News Journal.

Never mind the curled hair and long eyelashes, the makeup and painted fingernails. Amy Reynolds, her mentors say, has a heckuva future in the construction trades.

“I’m a hard worker,” the 32-year-old said. “And I’m really grateful I got the chance to prove it.”

From early evening until well after midnight, Diane Hudson scrubs and vacuums away the dirt, dust and mess of a school day. She never doubts the importance of her work. All parents want clean classrooms, hallways and bathrooms for their children.

The job doesn’t seem any easier than the manufacturing position she had years ago, especially now that her knees throb and ache from arthritis. By another measure, there’s no comparison.

Fawn was a drug addict and 12-time convicted felon when she turned to IMPACT Community Action in Columbus. "I was homeless and felt helpless in Cleveland, Ohio. I literally lived on the street with my addiction.

My face was plastered as a most wanted fugitive in Cleveland, explained Fawn. "Drug and alcohol abuse became my life and my arrest actually saved my life.·