CSH Initiatives and Products: Lending and Loans

The investment will support development of the innovative K-Town Residential Workforce Development Center.

Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) is pleased to announce a $13 million New Market Tax Credit Allocation (NMTC) to Lawndale Christian Legal Center (LCLC) for its planned K-Town residential workforce development center in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood.

The NMTC allocation will fund the redevelopment of the property into 20 supportive housing units and a job training center for men aged 18 to 24 facing housing instability and involvement with the justice system. In addition to housing, the investment will support holistic wraparound social supports, a culinary training program for the residents and additional office spaces for staff.

The LCLC award marks CSH’s first NMTC investment for individuals involved with the justice system and is its inaugural NMTC investment in Chicago. LCLC will leverage the award with other funding sources to provide job training and “efficiency style” apartments for men exiting the justice system.

“CSH is pleased to support LCLC and the K-Town residential workforce development center that will transform the lives of people who have experienced trauma as a result of their involvement with the justice system,” said Jill Steen, Director, New Market Tax Credits at CSH. “This award is part of CSH’s ongoing multimillion-dollar investment for housing and services that are owned, operated, and serve communities who identify as Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC).”

CSH expects the K-Town development project to create more than 150 construction jobs, most of which will be accessible for workers with less than a two-year college degree and over 40 permanent, full-time jobs.

CSH, a national nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), plays a pivotal role in supporting the development of quality, affordable and supportive housing, and services. CSH actively increases housing and service pipelines by providing Technical Assistance (TA), training, and consulting services to developers, service providers, and jurisdictions.

For more information about this project or CSH’s New Market Tax Credit offerings, please contact Jill Steen, Director, NMTC at jill.steen@csh.org.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CSH is pleased to announce the launch of the Los Angeles “Redesigning Access by Centering Equity” initiative designed to support housing organizations led by Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC). The RACE Initiative Supportive Housing Lab (LA-RISHL) will provide financial support, needs assessment consulting, and technical assistance to develop the capacity, internal infrastructure, resources, and sustainability to increase the supply of supportive housing in and around Los Angeles County.

The initiative is made possible with generous support from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, and California Community Foundation. 

CSH has selected a cohort of eight Los Angeles-based developers who will each be awarded a grant of $175,000 over a two-year period for financing, staffing, operational support with options for consulting and targeted technical assistance. The eight grantees will gather for a series of co-learning sessions as a group of organizations who share a common goal of expanding supportive housing production. Together, they will deepen their understanding of organizational capacity as they pursue individual supportive housing projects.  

Join us in congratulating these inaugural LA-RISHL participants: 

• Affordable Living for the Aging (ALA): a BIPOC-led nonprofit currently serving high-acuity individuals in Los Angeles. ALA’s mission is to reduce disparities and promote housing and health equity by enabling access to housing and health services for communities with complex barriers to housing.  
• Bold Communities: a BIPOC-led, Los Angeles-based, nonprofit 501(c)(3) affordable housing real estate development firm focused on building bold, innovative, socially conscious, economically viable projects that enhance the lives of residents and complement the fabric of the communities in which they invest. 
• Coalition for Responsible Community Development (CRCD): a place-based community development corporation in South Los Angeles with a unique focus on young people (ages 14–26.) They commit to partnering with residents, businesses, community-based organizations, civic leaders, and local community colleges to improve the quality of life in South Central LA.   
• East Los Angles Community Corporation (ELACC): ELACC’s mission is to advocate for economic and social justice in Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles by building grassroots leadership, developing affordable housing and neighborhood assets, and providing access to economic development opportunities for low and moderate income families. 
• Little Tokyo Services Center (LTSC): The mission of LTSC is to provide a comprehensive array of social welfare and community development services to assist low income individuals and other persons in need, contribute to community revitalization and cultural preservation in Little Tokyo and among the broader Japanese community in the Southland, and to provide resources to neighboring Asian American and Pacific Islander and other low income communities. 
• Southern California Health and Rehabilitation Program (SCHARP): Founded by two African American psychiatrists who were disillusioned with the traditional services provided to severely and persistently mentally ill individuals who are members of minority groups, SCHARP works to provide quality mental health and social services to vulnerable populations in South Los Angeles. They work with individuals experiencing homelessness who have a mental illness or a dual diagnosis.
• Women Organizing Resources Knowledge and Services (WORKS) and CTY Housing: WORKS and CTY Housing are the only dual development team in the cohort. WORKS delivers quality affordable housing and enriched services that respond to the aspirations of the people they house. Through their support and stewardship, they build equitable, heart-based sustainable communities and encourage resident self-determination. CTY Housing is a BIPOC-led, turnkey development and financial advisory service for affordable housing developers, community development financial institutions (CDFIs), foundations, and public agencies. These two organizations are partnering to expand their development pipeline with a focus on providing permanent supportive housing to transitional aged youth and persons with developmental disabilities.  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 1, 2022

is pleased to receive a $55 million New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) award from the U.S. Department of Treasury Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund. This award will further the CSH mission of building thriving communities by funding projects that expand healthcare and other critical supportive services to individuals and families facing the most complex challenges and focusing on those experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

“The NMTC award significantly boosts our efforts to demonstrate that better health outcomes for people experiencing homelessness are achieved when housing is paired with quality services like primary and behavioral healthcare, nutrition, and workforce development,” said Deborah De Santis, president and CEO at CSH. “CSH invests in projects that address social determinants of health and is committed to supporting organizations that are led by Black, Indigenous and People of Color in underserved communities.”

CSH prioritizes projects that provide supportive services with linkages to community housing or co-located housing.

The NMTC award is CSH’s eighth, totaling $375 million. CSH has invested $295 million in 27 projects across 14 states. These projects provide a broad range of services, including primary care, pharmacy, dental, mental, and behavioral healthcare services; medical respite care; PACE (Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly) services; and nutrition, food security, and wellness programs, along with other wrap-around services or programs. We expect these projects to serve more than 450,000 individuals annually who have low-income and complex healthcare and social service needs.

CSH’s NMTC investments have also helped to support more than 1,600 housing units, including 1,115 supportive housing units and 160 medical respite beds directly or indirectly. We invest in projects in locations where CSH is actively working and offer free technical assistance to all project sponsors, tailored to each sponsor’s particular needs to support their critical work and help to enhance community impacts and outcomes.

Interested persons who want to learn more about CSH’s NMTC program or how CSH’s NMTCs might be able to support your project, please contact:

Maralea Lutino, Community Investment Officer, NMTC Program – maralea.lutino@csh.org
Jill Steen, Director, NMTC Program – jill.steen@csh.org

Media contact: Jesse Dean – jesse.dean@csh.org

CSH estimates that there are 1.1 million individuals and families in need of supportive housing nationwide. We also expect the COVID-19 pandemic to increase this number as many individuals and families will be affected by loss of income and increasing housing. As state leadership begins to plan for 2021 and continues to manage the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) offers one tool to leverage the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) alongside broader state strategies for promoting thriving communities.

As has been the trend in years past, in 2019 all states and territories included at least one method for incentivizing housing for vulnerable individuals and families either as part of the QAP or through an alternative state resource that was leveraged alongside LIHTC.

When comparing year-over-year data, there was an increase from 2018 in the number of states that either required or incentivized extended low-income periods for developments. Similarly, more states included fair housing requirements that went beyond the Fair Housing Act. There was also an increase in the number of states using set-asides for extremely low-income (ELI) units serving those at or below 30% area median income (AMI); however, fewer states actually required ELI units as part of a threshold.

Her are the five recommendations in our report:

1. Allocate Low Income Housing Tax Credits for Supportive Housing
2. Prioritize the Populations Most in Need of Supportive Housing and Large Families 
3. Include Requirements for Extremely Low Income Units
4. Ensure Equitable Access to Housing and Address Disparate Impacts to Fair Housing
5. Clearly Define Supportive Housing and Ensure Quality Standards

Our new guidebook Health System Investments in Housing: A Development Guide, written for hospital executives and health system leaders, explores why and how health systems and hospitals can and should invest in supportive and affordable housing.

It has been well established that housing is one of if not the most important Social Determinant of Health. This guide will help healthcare leaders to understand the housing landscape, particularly supportive housing for medically vulnerable populations, and how their institutions can engage in this important work.

Part two of the guide is an introduction to Housing Finance and Development for health partners motivated to learn more about the steps needed to put you in the position to take concrete action to invest in or develop housing.

The guide also offers snapshots of communities leading the way in innovative health care partnerships with local government and community in:

• New Jersey: New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency’s Hospital Subsidy Partnership Program
• Chicago and Cook County, IL: Cook County Center for Housing and Health Flexible Housing Pool (FHP)
• Portland, Oregon: Central City Concern
• Los Angeles, CA: Housing For Health – Flexible Subsidy Housing Pool (FSHP)

Please read and share, particularly with healthcare professionals such as population health teams, community health programs, community benefits leaders, fiscal officers, and innovation leaders.

CSH was able to develop this guidebook thanks to the generous support of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency.

 Infusion of Capital to Spur Affordable Housing in Economically Distressed Neighborhoods

New York- The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) awarded $1.4M to CSH in the latest round of funding announced last week. CSH will use this new infusion of capital to increase and streamline the development of affordable housing with services in economically distressed communities.

“This year’s award comes at a time when the demand for investment in affordable housing with supportive services (supportive housing) is at an all-time high,” said Deborah De Santis, CSH President and CEO. “CSH will utilize this infusion of capital to leverage our existing lending capacity, spark additional development in communities where poverty rates continue to grow, and develop lending solutions to reduce the time it takes for a project to go from concept to construction.”

The CDFI Fund award CSH received includes $300,000 specifically for “Persistent Poverty Counties,” designed to spark development in counties across the nation where the rate of poverty is consistently high. CSH will use this new capital source to enhance our capacity to invest an estimated $22M over the next three years in communities in Bronx and Kings Counties, New York, where we have a strong pipeline.

CSH Chief Lending Officer Brigitt Jandreau noted, “we see great opportunity to assist borrowers in developing projects that complement both the State and City of New York’s supportive housing pipeline goals. With this new funding, we will make an important contribution toward ensuring housing with community-based services is available where the need is great.”

Supportive housing is a proven intervention that transforms the lives of people in need of stable housing and services such as medical and mental health care, substance use treatment, and job training. CSH, a certified CDFI established in 1991, is the nation’s leader in developing access to supportive housing.

CSH funding, expertise and advocacy have provided more than $1 billion in direct loans and grants for supportive housing across the country. Building on nearly 30 years of success developing multi and cross-sector partnerships, CSH engages broader systems to fully invest in solutions that drive equity, help people thrive, and harness data to generate concrete and sustainable results.

By aligning affordable housing with services and other sectors, CSH helps communities move away from crisis, optimize their public resources, and ensure a better future for everyone.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund announced an award of $50 million in New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) to CSH (Corporation for Supportive Housing) as part of their 2019 round of allocations.

“This year’s allocation comes at a crucial time as communities across the country work to revive their local economies while meeting the health and service needs of their most vulnerable residents,” said CSH President and CEO Deborah De Santis. “As with our prior awards, CSH will leverage this valuable federal resource to create new jobs in distressed areas while bolstering community-based health services. Our work is needed now more than ever.”

CSH is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) dedicated to creating opportunities for individuals and communities to thrive through affordable housing and community-based services. CSH will use its allocation to expand housing opportunities and access to health care for those experiencing homelessness, struggling with disabilities, the elderly, families and youth, veterans, and formerly institutionalized individuals. The housing and community facilities developed with CSH’s NMTC financing will help to develop critically needed support services for people who are experiencing or are at risk of homelessness, including primary healthcare; behavioral and mental health services; medical respite care; health and wellness programs; case management; and educational and job training programs.

This is CSH’s sixth NMTC award with all awards totaling $285M. CSH has used its prior rounds to leverage other sources of capital to finance projects resulting in over a thousand supportive housing units and nearly 500,000 healthcare visits annually for many who have lacked access to care in the past. CSH investments have poured millions of dollars into economically depressed areas and supported over 4,000 high-quality construction and permanent jobs.

Jill Steen, CSH’s Director of NMTC noted that “CSH is very happy to have received this award as a key funding source to continue to invest in projects that provide supportive housing and critical supportive services to those most in need, including those that address health and racial disparities in the low-income communities we serve.”  

To learn more about CSH’s New Markets Tax Credit strategy visit our lending page or contact our Community Investment Team.

Putting the Pieces Together for Hotel and Real Estate Conversion to Housing

This second installment of the CSH From Hotel to Home series offers guidance and tools on how states, cities and counties can put the pieces together to successfully acquire and convert hotels, motels and/or other available residential and commercial properties into affordable and supportive housing by using existing state resources and/or federal CARES Act funding.

Key Considerations for States and Local Jurisdictions Exploring Hotel/Motel Acquisitions as a Housing Strategy for People Exiting COVID-19 Shelters

States and communities across the country are currently facing a historic moment in their ability to improve the lives of their most vulnerable residents, challenged by the evolving public health crisis, structural and institutional racism, and the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression. Many have taken bold action to help people experiencing homelessness move into temporary settings, such as hotels, motels, trailers, and large public arenas, in response to COVID-19. As communities begin their planning to prevent thousands of residents from returning to the streets after the pandemic, one commonly proposed option is to acquire the hotels and motels where people are living.

This document outlines six considerations to take into account when exploring this option, including initial feasibility questions to ask about hotel/motel acquisitions and the importance of exploring multiple re-housing strategies.

Awards First “Challenge Grants” to Seven Bay Area Cities & Counties Leading Innovative Housing Efforts and $30 Million in Loans to Developers Producing and Preserving Affordable Homes

REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA,  11:30am, February 4, 2020 — Bay Area elected officials, community, faith, and business leaders, and philanthropic funders marked the first anniversary of the Partnership for the Bay’s Future by announcing  the recipients of the Partnership’s first-ever “Challenge Grants” to seven Bay Area local governments and non-profit partner organizations that are developing innovative housing policies. The Partnership also announced commitments that will allow it to reach its $500M investment goal ahead of schedule and has already closed seven loans to entities building new affordable housing or preserving existing  affordable homes.

The Partnership for the Bay’s Future is a unique cross-sector effort to tackle housing issues in the Bay Area with a dual-pronged approach: supporting policies that preserve and produce affordable housing and help protect renters through its Policy Fund, and directly investing in  projects that will create more affordable homes for people of all backgrounds and races through its investment arm, the Bay’s Future Fund. The Partnership launched in 2019 with the ambitious goals of protecting 175,000 households over five years  and preserving and producing more than 8,000 homes over the next decade in San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, and Contra Costa counties.

“The housing crisis requires bold action on multiple fronts and it requires that all sectors come to the table to drive new solutions—the government, the private sector, philanthropies, advocates, and faith leaders,” said California Governor Gavin Newsom. “The Partnership for the Bay’s Future and its multi-sector public-private approach reflects that—and will help move our state forward on one of the biggest issues we face.”

“All Californians deserve a place they can call home, where they feel a sense of belonging in their community, and where they can build a better future for themselves and their families regardless of their race or zip code, said San Francisco Foundation CEO Fred Blackwell. “The Partnership for the Bay’s Future enables Bay Area communities to help residents live in homes they can afford through its focus on local policy change and investment in building and preserving affordable homes, as well as protecting renters.”

Challenge Grant Recipients: Protecting Renters and Preserving Affordable Homes

The Partnership’s first group of  Challenge Grant recipients were on hand for today’s anniversary event.  The grantees are local government entities and community organizations working to advance policy solutions to protect renters and preserve existing affordable housing:

• Alameda County and Resources for Community Development
• City of Berkeley and East Bay Community Law Center
• City of East Palo Alto and the East Palo Alto Community Alliance and Neighborhood Development Organization (EPA CAN DO)
• City of Oakland and the Bay Area For All (BA4A) Preservation Table
• City of Palo Alto and SV@Home
• City of Redwood City and Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County
• City of San Jose and SOMOS Mayfair

Proposed policies are an innovative collection of approaches to the region’s housing problems, including new systems to provide renters and communities with the right to purchase affordable homes before they are sold to outside investors, ensure county-wide protections for renters, and establish new approaches to building community wealth. As part of the Challenge Grant award, each grantee jurisdiction has been matched with a mid-career fellow. The fellows will provide needed capacity and expertise to accelerate solutions, and grantees will have access to technical assistance and expert consultants to help them implement policy changes identified in the grant proposals. 

Investing in Affordable Homes
The Partnership’s Bay’s Future Fund has garnered commitments from a spectrum of investors and partners who have pledged resources, including Facebook, Morgan Stanley,  CZI, First Republic, San Francisco Foundation, Genentech, Silicon Valley Community Foundation and others. LISC, serving as fund manager, is partnering with Capital Impact Partners and the Corporation for Supportive Housing to co-invest additional resources. As one of the nation’s largest affordable housing investment funds, the Bay’s Future Fund is designed to address the affordable housing crisis in the Bay Area with flexible, innovative financial products.

“Investors are connecting their capital to their values in order to make Bay Area housing more affordable and anchor economic opportunity throughout the region,” said LISC president and CEO Maurice A. Jones. “And, this is just the beginning. We have a robust pipeline of development projects, a committed lineup of local partners, and a diverse group of investors from health care, finance, technology, and philanthropy—all focused on ways to positively impact the housing outlook for families and to keep communities competitive.”

To date, the Bay’s Future Fund has closed seven loans totaling nearly $30 million that will produce or preserve more than 800 units of housing, providing shelter for 1800 individuals, 97 percent of which are affordable to households earning less than 80 percent of Area Median Income. These investments leverage an additional $100 million in funding from other sources. The transactions are supporting a range of housing strategies, including permanent supportive housing, co-living spaces, senior housing and housing that is affordable by design. Projects include new construction, renovation, and preservation.

“The Partnership for the Bay’s Future is uniquely positioned not only to bring flexible capital to the table to substantially grow the number of  affordable homes in the region, but also to champion policies that will both increase housing and protect vulnerable renters,” said Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s Director of Housing Affordability, Caitlyn Fox.  ”While we’ve made notable progress, the work has just begun.  The future of the Bay Area depends on collaborative efforts to ensure that people of all backgrounds and income levels can live, work, and thrive here.”

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PARTNERSHIP FOR THE BAY’S FUTURE

Launched in early 2019 after more than a year of conversations with community and faith leaders, housing experts, elected officials, nonprofit and for-profit developers, business leaders, and residents, the Partnership focuses on advancing a more inclusive and equitable future for our region by solving its interconnected challenges: housing, transportation, and economic opportunity. The Partnership’s affordable housing efforts center around two key funding components. The first is the Bay’s Future Fund,  managed by Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), one of the largest nonprofit community development financial institutions in the country. The fund was designed to address the funding gap that limits the ability of mission-aligned developers and other interested entities to obtain the capital necessary  to  create quality, affordable homes. Simultaneously, the Policy Fund, under the stewardship of the San Francisco Foundation, provides grants to Bay Area cities and counties, and their community partners,  to enact local policies that protect renters and preserve and produce affordable housing.

The Partnership was founded with the initial support of the San Francisco Foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the Ford Foundation, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), Facebook, Genentech, Kaiser Permanente, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Stupski Foundation and Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

Additional information about the Partnership for the Bay’s Future, including file photography for media use, can be found here.