FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Jesse Dean for CSH, Jesse.Dean@csh.org or 347-931-0132
New York, NY (October 23, 2024) – CSH, a national nonprofit intermediary and Community Development Financial Institution that advances supportive housing, today announced it has been awarded a $400,000 multiyear U.S. Bank Foundation Opportunity Fund grant. The grant will be used to expand the CSH Redesigning Access to Centering Equity Initiative in Oregon and Washington to build the capacity of affordable and supportive housing developers who identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC) to create up to 195 new units of affordable housing, of which 83 units will be supportive housing.
“With this grant, participating BIPOC developers in Oregon and Washington will receive financial support and a range of training and technical assistance. Taken together, this will build their organizational capacity to build and operate high-quality, affordable and supportive housing for the long term,” said Brigitt Jandreau, Chief Lending Officer at CSH. “We are grateful for the generous support from the U.S. Bank Foundation that will help us continue investing in BIPOC-led developers to create critically needed affordable and supportive housing.”
“Expanding access to affordable housing and affordable housing capital helps children, families and communities thrive. Supporting organizations like CSH means more people will have more options for finding a safe, stable place to call home,” said Erica Opstad, head of community affairs and managing director of the U.S. Bank Foundation.
CSH is at the forefront of advancing affordable housing aligned with services, a proven approach to help people facing complex barriers to housing find stability and thrive. With the generous support of a past grant from the U.S. Bank Foundation, CSH has helped increase the production of high-quality supportive housing in San Diego, Orange Counties, and Nevada.
In 2021, CSH launched the Redesigning Access to Centering Equity Initiative (RACE) to address widespread underrepresentation among affordable and supportive housing developers who identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC). In contrast, BIPOC individuals are disproportionately represented among those experiencing homelessness and in institutional settings.
The U.S. Bank Foundation created the Opportunity Fund in 2023 to support organizations working to increase wealth-building opportunities for underserved communities, including low- to moderate-income communities, rural communities and communities of color. The fund currently prioritizes grants toward community development financial institutions (CDFIs); small business technical assistance and business incubators; affordable housing development; homeownership and down payment assistance; and digital access and economic development in rural and Native American communities.
“This funding is critical to helping CSH advance its goals to promote thriving, equitable communities,” said Alexis Butler, Director of the RACE Initiative. “With this grant, we will advocate to reduce barriers for BIPOC developers to access financing needed to fund, develop, maintain, and operate supportive housing in the long term and eliminate systemic barriers to equitable access to affordable housing and capital.”
ABOUT CSH
CSH (Corporation for Supportive Housing) advances affordable and accessible housing aligned with services by advocating for effective policies and funding, equitably investing in communities, and strengthening the supportive housing field. Since our founding in 1991, CSH has been the only national nonprofit intermediary focused solely on increasing the availability of supportive housing. Over the course of our work, we have created more than 467,600 units of affordable and supportive housing and distributed over $1.5 billion in loans and grants. Our workforce is central to accomplishing this work. We employ approximately 170 people across 30 states and U.S. Territories. As an intermediary, we do not directly develop or operate housing but center our approach on collaboration with a wide range of people, partners, and sectors. For more information, visit www.csh.org.