Aim is to help alleviate massive pressure
On the heels of a $2 million donation aimed at helping people at risk of losing their homes, Amazon recently followed this up with another $1.5 million windfall benefiting beleaguered housing residents in Nashville, now recovering the spate of deadly tornadoes.
Amazon provided $1.5 million in donations to the affordable non-profit The Housing Fund to support Nashville residents. The aim is to ease increased tax burdens on eligible landlords committed to maintaining affordable housing who might otherwise increase rental costs as a result, officials explained.
The donation follows Amazon’s first contribution to the Housing Fund of $2.25 million in 2020, which established the Housing Resiliency Fund within the non-profit aimed at supporting qualified homeowners with property tax relief, officials said.
The company’s philanthropy comes after the formation of an affordable housing task force by Nashville Mayor John Cooper spurred by projected population growth rates that will require the construction of more than 53,000 new homes by 2030.
To meet the goal, the task force recommended the city preserve affordable housing stock and prioritize preservation of expiring subsidized and naturally occurring affordable housing. An ensuing report found the support’s potential for incentives to invest in the upkeep of properties to keep them affordable.
“The Housing Equity Fund is Amazon’s below-market capital that we’re providing to developers,” Catherine Buell (pictured), director of the fund, explained during a telephone chat. “The Housing Resiliency Fund is intended to help stabilize monthly tax and mortgage payments for low- to moderate-income households in Nashville who are experiencing the pressures of the tax increase.”
In Nashville, she added, many of the affected residents are seniors who are especially vulnerable to losing their homes following property tax hikes. “We’re looking to help alleviate that pressure,” Buell said.
While Amazon seeks to maintain beneficiaries’ privacy, some residents volunteered insights into how the company’s contributions have helped them personally. Nashville resident Nahla Shalan, a housing fund grant recipient, described the struggle in providing for her family as the main breadwinner after losing her job.
“I was the source of income for my family, and didn’t know how I would support my children,” she said. “I really appreciate the way Amazon and the Housing Resiliency Fund are trying to help people during this hard time. I can’t lose my home; I already lost my job.”
Since establishing the Housing Resiliency Fund last year, Amazon’s donations have helped 412 households pay property taxes and remain in their homes, according to a company fact sheet.
Of those benefiting, 76% are households maintained by people of color and 74% making less than 80% of Nashville’s area median income. That translates to less than $68,000 annually for a family of four, and less than $48,000 for an individual. Through the Housing Resiliency Fund, the majority of recipients have received a commitment for five years of support, officials said.
As it happens, the company has a vested interest in helping residents of Nashville, where Buell said an Amazon operations center is planned.
It’s not the first time the company’s largesse impacts a city where Amazon maintains a business hub. The company has also committed $160 million to help preserve more than 1,300 affordable apartment homes at the 60-acre Barcroft Apartment community located less than three miles from Amazon’s new headquarters campus in Arlington, Va.
To achieve that, the company is providing a low-rate loan to fill financing gaps and preserve the multifamily housing property to ensure rents stay within reach of current tenants. Once the transaction is complete, company officials said the preservation will be among the largest affordable preservation efforts in the region, creating and maintaining long-term affordability for 1,300 affordable homes specifically for families earning up to 60% area median income.
It’s all the tip of the iceberg. All told, the company’s Housing Equity Fund is providing more than $2 billion in below-market loans and grants to preserve and create more than 20,000 affordable homes for individuals and families earning moderate to low incomes in Amazon’s hometown communities.
We all like getting packages delivered to our homes, more often than not containing items nestled within Amazon packaging. For so many residents in distress ahead of the holidays, the company’s philanthropy has yielded the best care packages of all.
