The Box That Keeps People Out, and How We’re Moving It
At Make-A-Day, we’ve always believed real change happens when we show up, again and again, for our neighbors who have been boxed out of opportunity for too long.
This fall, we’re launching something big. It’s called Move the Box, and it’s our bold next step to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty at its root.
The invisible box that keeps people locked out
Too many of our neighbors are unhoused or underhoused not just because of high rents or a lack of shelter beds, but because they carry an old criminal record.
For thousands, that record comes from surviving poverty. Sleeping outside can be criminal. Shoplifting food. Loitering. Unpaid tickets. Addiction treated like a crime instead of a health issue. And we know that Black and brown neighbors are policed and charged more harshly than others for the same behavior.
It’s not about “bad people making bad choices.” It’s about a system that punishes poverty over and over.
What Move the Box will do
This fall, we’ll roll out a mobile expungement initiative that brings legal help to people where they already are, meal sites, encampments, libraries, trusted community spaces.
We’ll turn our outreach van into a legal clinic on wheels.
We’ll pair legal help with housing navigation, job support, mental health resources, and peer mentors.
We’ll do it alongside partners, local faith leaders, barbers…people our guests trust.
We’ll walk with guests every step, because clearing a record is just one piece of building stability.
No one should have to ride two buses and wait in a courthouse lobby just to get a fresh start. We’re meeting people where they are, with real legal help, real trust, and support that doesn’t stop at the paperwork.
Why this matters for all of us
When someone clears their record, they find work, sign a lease, get off the street. Each expungement raises annual earnings by about $6,000 and brings a return on investment of about $46 for every $1 spent. Less reliance on emergency rooms, shelters, or jails. More dignity, hope, and community.
How you can help move the box
Right now, we’re asking our community to help us get this off the ground through the City’s Community Development Block Grant program. The City is accepting public comments on applications like ours through July 31, and your voice matters.
📧 Email: grantsmgmt@columbus.gov
✅ Share why you believe in second chances.
✅ Talk about why clearing old records helps people find housing and jobs.
✅ Ask the City to fund Make-A-Day’s Move the Box, which will break cycles at the root.
When we see people for who they are now, not the worst thing they ever did to survive, we build the kind of community we all want to live in.
Together, we can move the box.