TROY (AP) - Banks and philanthropic organizations have committed more than $70 million to help finance affordable housing for low-income families and improve access to social services programs through the Strong Families Fund.
Organizers announced this week that the fund is expected to finance construction or renovation of 600 to 700 quality affordable-housing units in the next three years. It also will support on-site access to social services coordination over the next decade.
"This fund is a great example of the bold, innovative approaches that philanthropy and the private sector can use to create positive change," Kresge Foundation President and CEO Rip Rapson said in a statement. "Bringing together so many strong partners allows us to marshal shared resources around a common agenda, and achieve a greater impact than any of us can have by going it alone."
The Kresge Foundation, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, KeyBank and Goldman Sachs are leading the effort to launch the fund.
The fund combines federal low-income housing tax credits for development work with access to up to 10 years of incentive payments. In return, developments must provide on-site, social service coordination in areas, including health and education.
The Troy-based Kresge Foundation says the first funded project is Deborah Strong Housing in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The complex, named in memory of a longtime housing advocate, is moving forward with rehabilitation of 112 family housing units.
"Meeting the social needs of families where they live is a critical component of improving health in this country," said Nancy Barrand, senior adviser for program development at The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The Kresge Foundation has committed more than $7.2 million and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation will provide $4.8 million in grant funding. The Ypsilanti Housing Commission and Chesapeake Community Advisors Inc. are developing the project.
Other partner organizations for the Strong Families Fund include the Community Development Trust, the Great Lakes Capital Fund, the National Affording Housing Trust, Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future and the Corporation for Supportive Housing.
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Online:
http://www.kresge.org.
Published: Thu, Sep 17, 2015
