Five organizations will receive support for their projects aimed at removing barriers to homeownership
Fannie Mae has chosen five organizations to receive deliverable-based contracts under the Sustainable Communities Innovation Challenge, a nationwide competition aimed at advancing racial equity in housing.
The challenge sought innovative, scalable proposals to remove barriers that prevent many households, including Black households, from purchasing or renting a home.
As part of Fannie Mae’s Sustainable Communities Partnership and Innovation initiative, the challenge was focused on developing collaborative, cross-sector approaches to advancing sustainable communities and generating solutions for the nation’s most pressing housing issues.
The five organizations selected, ReBUILD Metro, Southside Community Development & Housing Corporation (SCDHC), Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, The Community Builders, and The Opportunity Alliance, will be working on specific projects that address the insufficient supply of quality affordable housing options, insufficient funds for upfront and unexpected housing costs, and consumer credit challenges, including low credit scores and credit invisibility.
Fannie Mae said the move is a step towards addressing the historic discriminatory housing policies and practices that have created deep-seated inequities in the housing system. The selected proposals provide tangible, scalable solutions to the most pressing housing problems currently facing the US.
“A history of discriminatory housing policies and practices has created profound inequities in the housing system that persist to this day,” said Maria Evans, vice president of community impact at Fannie Mae. “The Innovation Challenge is one example of Fannie Mae’s commitment to address those inequities and knock down the barriers that consumers, particularly Black consumers, face throughout the housing journey. We are excited to work with these organizations and to support their innovative projects.”
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