Big Dollars for Affordable Housing Developers Are Available. Here’s How Miami Organizations Want You to Access Them

The capital to build affordable housing projects exists, but gaining access could be the challenge. 

Nonprofits Miami Homes for All, Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise), along with Miami-Dade County, and other partners are leading an effort named the Greater Miami Housing Funders Collaborative. Miami Homes for All  and Enterprise both work to ensure everyone has access to a safe and affordable home. But Enterprise is national.

Completing housing projects sometimes involves funding from multiple sources: banks, government programs, and foundations. The process can become even more difficult – specifically for smaller developers – as they attempt to raise money. 

The issue could be solved through the Collaborative as it assembled 40 private financial institutions, such as banks, community development financial institutions (CDFIs), and public philanthropic partners to coordinate the investments, organizers said in a joint release to Miami Affordable Magazine.

Read Similar Coverage Here: https://www.miaaffordablemagazine.org/miami-developers-can-save-thousands-but-few-know-about-this-program/

Miami Homes for All and Enterprise also said they will announce the first affordable housing development deal advanced through the Greater Miami Housing Funders Collaborative. 

The event will start at 10 a.m. on Thursday at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex in the Proscenium Theater — inviting funders and lenders who yet joined the Collaborative to learn about the effort. Founding investors are JPMorgan Chase, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and Miami-Dade County. 

The initiative aims at taking affordable housing projects from concept to completion, organizers said. 

“The secret to unlocking the affordable housing capital we need is greater coordination and collaboration between housing funders,” the joint statement said.

Scheduled speakers are Miami Homes for All Executive Director Annie Lord; Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava; Head of Global Philanthropy, Southern Region JPMorgan Chase Maria Escorcia; Vice President of Community Impact, Knight Foundation Francesca de Quesada Covey.

Others are Vice President and Southeast Market Leader, Enterprise Community partners Christie Cade; Founder and Director of Propelling Into Triumph Shavon Saint Preux; Vice President CRA Service & Small Business Lending Officer, BB Americas Bank, Luiz Pisanelli.