Couple of the Year: Jenny and John Bailer

Jenny and John Bailer are recognized as Oxford Couple of the Year for their leadership in Oxford Area Housing Solutions (OASH), including the opening of Oxford Winter House in 2025 as a shelter for the unhoused during the cold winter season. A point-in-count led by OASH identified 46 unhoused people in Oxford, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development definition. A more expansive measure identified 96 unhoused people in Oxford.

“I have had the privilege of working alongside them over the past year and observing their skilled and tireless efforts on behalf of the Oxford community, particularly the homeless in our midst and those impacted by economic setbacks,” Mary Vincent wrote in her nomination letter.

OASH is a nonprofit organization formed in 2023 to address homelessness in Oxford. OASH aims to “educate, promote, and alleviate the issue of homelessness,” according to Sarah Michael in her nomination letter. Jenny Bailer was a co-founder of OASH and now serves as its president. In her nomination letter, OASH co-founder Ann Fuehrer wrote “Jenny’s background is in public health nursing, and as former (Butler County Health Commissioner), she is highly effective in planning and implementation of innovative programs that address the basic survival needs of the most vulnerable members of local communities. She has repeatedly demonstrated professional expertise and leadership skills in working collaboratively to shepherd OASH’s programs).”

OASH is organized around six sectors, and John Bailer leads the Educator Sector, which identifies ways to assist with the needs of students experiencing homelessness. “In this role he led this year’s Oxford Reads initiative in collaboration with Lane Library,” according to Michael. “Three books about poverty/homelessness were available for anyone to read and then to participate in group discussions.” Michael’s letter cites the purpose of this initiative is to “enhance the community’s understanding of the depth and breadth of homelessness crisis as the first step towards developing compassionate evidence-based solutions.”

For a number of years, the Talawanda Oxford Pantry and Social Services (TOPSS) tried to address the needs of the unhoused in Oxford by partnering with local hotels, but it announced in July 2025 that it would no longer be able to continue this service. 

OASH, led by the Bailers, then worked with the City of Oxford, TOPPS and local churches to create an emergency winter shelter. Their efforts have resulted in the opening of the Winter House on College Corner Pike that provides a bed, food, social services and other support for the unhoused this winter.

The Bailers’ nominators all cite the couple’s leadership at Oxford Presbyterian Church. For example, they both played active roles in the creation of Oxford Responds, which brings together representatives of Oxford churches and other community members, under the leadership of Oxford Presbyterian Church, to fill in resource gaps created by shifts in priorities in state and federal government funding to meet needs of most vulnerable members of our community. 

Vincent’s nomination letter concludes “I have learned much by watching this dynamic couple, and I am deeply grateful for their commitment and contributions to our community. My husband, Michael Vincent, concurs.”