NEW YORK (June 3, 2021) – Enterprise Community Partners today announced that it has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York (FHLBNY) to advance racial equity in affordable housing and real estate development in New York State. With the funding, Enterprise will provide consulting and advisory services to up to eight affordable housing developers led by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color ("BIPOC") housing providers. Developers based in New York State, as well as in New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, will be eligible to apply for the assistance. The grant is part of Equitable Path Forward (EPF), Enterprise’s five-year, $3.5 billion national initiative to help dismantle the deeply rooted legacy of racism in housing.
Through Equitable Path Forward, the FHLBNY grant will increase the impact, financial and organizational sustainability, and scale of the selected BIPOC-led development organizations over the next two years. The RFA (Request for Applications) for affordable housing organizations interested in applying for advisory services can be found here.
“The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York is proud to support Enterprise Community Partners’ efforts to advance racial equity in affordable housing and real estate development across our District,” said José R. González, president and CEO of the FHLBNY. “At the FHLBNY, we know the importance of creating access to housing opportunities, and that the home is the foundation from which we grow as individuals, families and communities. The Enterprise efforts we support today will go far in ensuring that this access is available to everyone. Communities are strengthened by their diversity, and a more inclusive approach to the entire housing process will create a stronger foundation from which we can all grow.”
“We know that BIPOC-led developers typically experience a steep disparity in access to vital resources and capital,” said Lorraine Collins, senior director of Public Policy and External Affairs, New York at Enterprise. “Supporting BIPOC-led developers with financial assistance, technical consulting and other meaningful consulting resources is a key step toward building a fairer future: one that prioritizes equity in the homes that are built, where they’re built, who builds them, who has access to them and the wealth that is generated from them. We are grateful to the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York for contributing to this crucial work.”
Enterprise will offer ongoing advisory services, helping the selected BIPOC-led developers to create or refine their business plans and growth management strategies. It will also create a national peer-to-peer exchange group of BIPOC real estate leaders, in an interactive format, which will include the Equitable Path Forward participants in New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
While the affordable housing, community development and real estate sectors have served to create affordable homes primarily in neighborhoods of color, these sectors have been owned and profitable primarily for white-led organizations. Just 2% of real estate development companies are Black-led, and 1.5% of real estate assets under management are controlled by minority-owned firms. Even among real estate-focused community development corporations (CDCs), which specifically serve low-income residents and often communities of color, the numbers are still stark: 84% of CDCs are led by executive directors who are white, according to a NeighborWorks Survey.
Enterprise seeks to deploy capital and make the critical connections that will benefit BIPOC-led housing providers and in turn create more equitable communities in New York State and nationwide.
View the RFA (Request for Applications). Applications are due by July 16, 2021.
About Enterprise Community Partners
Enterprise is a national nonprofit on a mission to make home and community places of pride, power and belonging for all. To make that possible, we operate the only organization designed to address America's affordable housing crisis from every angle: we develop and deploy programs and support community organizations on the ground; we advocate for policy on a nonpartisan basis at every level of government; we invest capital to build and preserve rental homes people can afford; and we own, operate and provide resident services for affordable communities. All so that people not only make rent, they build futures. With this end-to-end approach, 40 years of experience and thousands of local partners, Enterprise has built and preserved 793,000 homes, invested $61 billion in communities and changed millions of lives.
About the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York
The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York is a Congressionally chartered, wholesale Bank. It is part of the Federal Home Loan Bank System, a national wholesale banking network of 11 regional, stockholder-owned banks. As of March 31, 2021, the FHLBNY serves 322 financial institutions in New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Federal Home Loan Banks support the efforts of local members to help provide financing for America’s homebuyers.
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