Columbia Housing Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is established to promote racial and ethnic integration and diversity in Columbia, Maryland through housing advisory services, community outreach and advocacy, and educational programming. At the Columbia Housing Center, we dream of a community in which all people are welcome. We promote lasting racial and ethnic integration and diversity in Columbia, Maryland through our housing advisory services, community outreach and advocacy, and educational programming.
Our Pillars:
Education: We strive to promote integration in Columbia through a variety of educational activities. These including educating current and potential Columbia residents about Columbia’s unique roots as a visionary planned community intended to be open and accessible to all and educating residents with barriers to accessing housing in Columbia about the rental process, including how to be an ideal tenant.
Advocacy: On behalf of the clients we serve (and those we can’t serve), we advocate for more housing in Columbia, particularly affordable housing for those with households below the median income in Howard County. We also advocate for tenant’s rights and initiatives that support the original vision for Columbia as an integrated community.
Housing Referrals: We promote lasting racial and ethnic integration and diversity in Columbia, Maryland through our rental referral service, which helps landlords find tenants and tenants find homes. Thousands of moves into and within Columbia occur every year and each one of these moves can result in either integration or segregation. With the housing center model, based on the work of the Oak Park Regional Housing Center, the resultant move can promote community integration and inclusion.

Executive Director 

Jessamine Duvall is an experienced leader in the nonprofit community and Howard County, including as the Executive Director of Girls on the Run where she oversaw growth of the organization and an enhanced commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. She has also played important leadership roles within Columbia, including serving as the Village Manager of the Hickory Ridge Community Association and as a board member of the Columbia Association. She is a graduate of Leadership Howard County and has served as a member of the Housing Affordability Coalition and the Community of Practice for Racial Equity in Howard County.

https://columbiahousingcenter.org/