New York – January 26, 2023 – Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise) announced that it has received a $400,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York (FHLBNY) to create a program that will support capacity building and promote growth in the U.S. Virgin Islands’ affordable housing ecosystem. Enterprise will use the grant to provide between $60,000-$100,000 in technical assistance funding to up to five local organizations, while offering curriculum-based training and networking programs to expand the selected organizations’ capacities to develop affordable housing.
Enterprise has supported nonprofit engagement in the U.S. Virgin Islands since 2017. The organization’s work in the territory focuses on strengthening the capacity of community-based organizations, increasing community development, and furthering resilience goals, which have become especially important as the islands continue to recover from the 2017 category 5 hurricanes Maria and Irma. The U.S. Virgin Islands government develops most of the affordable housing in the territory, but greater private participation in housing and community development efforts locally could help meet the significant and currently unmet affordable housing need. Using FHLBNY’s grant, Enterprise will provide funding, training, and other supports to strengthen local private housing organizations, in turn increasing their ability to provide much-needed affordable homes for residents.
“Providing affordable homes for Virgin Islanders requires supporting the capacity and growth of the local organizations who best understand the unmet needs of their community,” said Jelani Newton, Senior Director, Advisors at Enterprise Community Partners. “We are eager to uplift local voices and community-based organizations in the U.S. Virgin Islands and provide them with the resources they need to address the territory’s affordable housing needs. Thank you to the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York for this generous grant, which will help CBOs in the U.S. Virgin Islands make sustainable, resilient, and good homes a reality for the residents who need them.”
“The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York proudly serves as the U.S. Virgin Islands’ Home Loan Bank, and we are thrilled to support Enterprise’s efforts to build capacity for community-based organizations to create more housing opportunities in the Virgin Islands,” said José R. González, president and CEO of the FHLBNY. “Working together, Enterprise and these local organizations will help address affordable housing needs to the benefit of so many households in the territory. We are thrilled to be able to support such an important effort, and look forward to increased housing opportunities across the U.S. Virgin Islands.”
Enterprise’s program in the U.S. Virgin Islands will commence by March and will occur over the course of two years. Locally based organizations will be invited to apply for the program, and selected organizations will participate in an assessment process to determine their capacity building goals and needs. They will receive technical assistance funding, training and networking activities, and ongoing monitoring from Enterprise to support their needs throughout the program.
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About Enterprise Community Partners
Enterprise is a national nonprofit that exists to make a good home possible for the millions of families without one. We support community development organizations on the ground, aggregate and invest capital for impact, advance housing policy at every level of government, and build and manage communities ourselves. Since 1982, we have invested $54 billion and created 873,000 homes across all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico – all to make home and community places of pride, power and belonging. Join us at enterprisecommunity.org.
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 June 30, 2022, the FHLBNY serves 315 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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