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Enterprise

The Heart of Detroit: Powering Change Block by Block

Enterprise and Detroit CDOs at the nation’s capital.Community development doesn’t happen from the top down — it’s built from the block up, by the people and organizations who know their neighborhoods best. That’s the vision behind Enterprise’s Community Partners’ Community Development Organization (CDO) Fund. Since 2020, Enterprise has invested nearly $40 million in 36 CDOs across Detroit, supporting the people and organizations working every day...

Jane Smith in Enterprise 2026-01-16 05:35:38

House Advances FY26 Housing and Community Development Spending Proposals

The House Appropriations Committee approved the HUD fiscal year 2026 (FY26) spending bill(link is external) on July 17, rejecting many of the drastic cuts and proposals to consolidate rental assistance and homelessness programs that were included in the President’s budget request, but still including cuts to key housing and community development programs.  The House Appropriations Subcommittee for Transportation, Housing and Urban Developmen...

Sarah Williams in Enterprise 2026-01-25 07:11:43

A Year of Living Hopefully

After just a few months on the job, Janine Lind put together a five-year plan for Enterprise’s Community Development division. “I was feeling good about this plan,” said Lind, who recently celebrated her one-year anniversary as the division’s president. “And then, starting in February of this year, external changes caused things to go a bit haywire.”Despite funding headwinds and market uncertainties of the past several months, Lind’s ambitious go...

Jennifer Williams in Enterprise 2026-01-13 12:25:33

Caring for the People You Help: 20 Years After Katrina

Karen Ladner, former executive director of the Bay Waveland Housing Authority, with Janine Lee, current executive directorWhen Karen Ladner heard that a major hurricane was heading for her town in August of 2005, she immediately thought about the residents who lived in affordable homes at her housing authority in Waveland, Mississippi.  “After we went and picked up everything in the yards, I wrote a little letter telling them I needed to kno...

Jennifer Davis in Enterprise 2026-01-23 10:15:24

Affordable Housing Developers: The New (Green) Cathedral Builders

Green Communities-certified Columbia Canopy at Grove Park reflects Columbia Residential founder Noel Khalil's dedication to quality and community.In 1991, Noel Khalil, a New Yorker born to Jamaican immigrants, founded a company called Columbia Residential in Atlanta. Khalil had a mission: build affordable housing for working families like his. “Noel felt that just because a person is low income, it doesn't mean they don’t deserve quality hou...

Emily Smith in Enterprise 2025-12-28 20:54:19

Eliminating Barriers to Housing through Zoning Reform

This piece is part of our series, Policy Actions for Racial Equity (PARE), which explores the many ways housing policies contribute to racial disparities in our country.Federal, state, and local governments have developed programs and policies in recent years to address the nation’s affordable housing crisis, creating innovative and streamlined methods to build more housing. Zoning reform is a powerful tactic that state and local leaders can use ...

David Williams in Enterprise 2026-01-25 23:40:57

Energy, Focus, Purpose

Tim Block has run eight marathons and is training for another. But with his work as senior director in Enterprise’s Southeast market office combined with an active family life, a leadership role in his fraternity, and studies in a doctoral program, each day might easily be described as “a marathon” of its own.Block, who joined Enterprise nine years ago, is responsible for overseeing Enterprise's Faith-Based Development InitiativeSM (FBDI) in the ...

Sarah Brown in Enterprise 2026-01-17 18:45:07

Rural Housing at a Crossroads

For many families, seniors, and workers who live in rural areas across the country, affordable housing makes it possible for them to remain in the communities they call home. Yet these rural communities face distinct challenges in preserving and creating safe, affordable housing, including limited financing options, aging rental stock, construction workforce shortages, and escalating insurance costs. Against this backdrop, more than 100 housing p...

Jane Brown in Enterprise 2025-12-30 05:22:31

Storm Ready: Helping Gulf Coast Housers Prepare for Severe Weather

Bogalusa Rebirth replaces blighted properties with new homes accessible to families earning under 80% of AMIIf you made a daily donation of $10,000, it would take nearly three centuries for your generosity to reach $1 billion. Yet insured losses alone from last fall’s Hurricane Francine on the Gulf Coast totaled nearly $1.5 billion(link is external). Planning can go a long way toward mitigating costly damages and protecting homes and residen...

Michael Miller in Enterprise 2026-01-19 08:46:02

Stabilizing the Affordable Housing Supply

Enterprise Senior Vice President for Programs Meaghan Vlkovic (right) and Heather Higginbottom, head of Research, Policy & Insights, Corporate Responsibility, JPMorganChase (left).Even as the affordable housing industry has been developing more accessible options for low- and moderate-income households, affordable housing owners and operators are struggling to maintain and preserve the units that currently exist. From the increasing frequency...

David Johnson in Enterprise 2026-01-22 23:20:45

Reaching New Champions to Build a Bigger Choir

Downtown Emergency Service Center in Seattle (DESC) is a multi-service agency that provides shelter and permanent housing options for people with chronic health conditions experiencing chronic homelessness.What do the cities of Dallas and Seattle have in common with Appalachian communities in West Virginia and Kentucky? For Lindsay Knotts, these disparate locations all have something to teach us about finding solutions to homelessness. Last ...

Jane Smith in Enterprise 2025-12-30 23:50:38

Fostering Stability Through Housing and Services

Fruitvale Transit Village, a transit-oriented community hub in Oakland, Calif. Credit: The Unity CouncilEveryone should have a safe place to call home.That belief drives Aubra Levine's work. With 20 years of experience in community development, she knows the obstacles are great — especially in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she works. In just a decade, homelessness in Oakland has doubled(link is external), in large part due to skyrocketing hou...

Jane Miller in Enterprise 2026-01-15 21:08:33

An Affordable Housing and Climate Victory in Sacramento

Berkeley Way and the Hope Center. Photo By Bruce DamonteIn a significant policy win with far-reaching implications for housing and climate equity, California lawmakers reauthorized the state’s cap-and-trade program—now renamed cap and invest. The move not only extends the state’s signature climate policy but also guarantees a dedicated stream of funding for affordable housing and sustainable transportation.The legislation ensures that a key progr...

Jane Jones in Enterprise 2025-12-28 20:59:34

A Generational Opportunity: Bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act Paves the Way for Progress

In contrast to the political gridlock that led to this fall’s government shutdown, there’s growing bipartisan momentum around one of the nation’s most pressing issues: the affordable housing crisis. This summer, the Senate Banking Committee unanimously advanced the most significant piece of housing legislation in over 16 years: the Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act of 2025(link is external). This landmark legislatio...

Sarah Jones in Enterprise 2026-01-03 17:22:30

A Dedicated and Equitable Investment for Housing Opportunity

Volunteers repair the home of an elderly Savannah homeowner with help from the Savannah Affordable Housing Fund.This piece is part of our series, Policy Actions for Racial Equity (PARE), which explores the many ways housing policies contribute to racial disparities in our country.In Atlanta, the Housing Help Center(link is external) assisted 291 households to secure stable housing in 2024 and continues to receive thousands of applications from lo...

Sarah Smith in Enterprise 2026-01-24 13:10:44

Three Years, Thousands of Repairs

Turriner Jackson with Renaissance of Hope Community Manager, Lance Woods, who supported her through repairs to her home.A Detroiter all her life, Turriner Jackson purchased her first home in 2011. Over the years, it grew harder and harder to keep up with the unexpected expenses needed to maintain her home, a bungalow where she and her husband raised their two kids. She would tap friends of friends who assured her they could provide repairs but ul...

David Miller in Enterprise 2026-01-07 13:43:37

The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025

A coalition of bipartisan lawmakers has reintroduced the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (AHCIA)(link is external) in the U.S. House of Representatives. This legislation seeks to expand and strengthen the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit) — the federal government’s most effective and proven tool for building and preserving affordable rental housing across the country.Led in the House by Representatives Darin LaHood (R-Ill.)...

David Johnson in Enterprise 2026-01-20 05:18:18

Air Quality: A Silent Stressor in Vulnerable Communities

Barry Farm: The Asberry (Photo courtesy of Hamel Builders)This piece is part of our series, Policy Actions for Racial Equity (PARE), which explores the many ways housing policies contribute to racial disparities in our country.The 2025 State of the Air report by the American Lung Association(link is external) found that almost half of the U.S. population (46%) currently live with unhealthy levels of air pollution. Homes might be seen as a sanctua...

Jennifer Smith in Enterprise 2026-01-21 06:49:54

Advancing Key Updates to Federal Disaster Recovery Program

As disasters increase in frequency and severity, it is more critical than ever to ensure disaster recovery programs are effective and responsive to the needs of impacted communities. Enterprise has long advocated for policies that promote resilience, efficiency, and adaptability in disaster recovery efforts, particularly around the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program, which is the only source for federal long-ter...

Sarah Johnson in Enterprise 2025-12-27 11:34:30

Moving Forward: 20 Years After Hurricane Katrina

Rachelle Dafillo in front of family home in New Orleans' Tremé neighborhoodIn August of 2005, Rachelle Defillo was a young mother who had recently opened a clothing store in New Orleans’ French Quarter. The destruction and chaos that followed Hurricane Katrina upended her family’s life and her entrepreneurial plans.In the 20 years that followed, Defillo has gone on to create new businesses, invest in real estate, and build the foundations for a n...

Jane Williams in Enterprise 2026-01-24 16:51:46

Building Back in LA

After the devastating wildfires at the start of 2025, the city and county of Los Angeles have made historic strides toward wildfire recovery(link is external), completing the fastest hazardous materials cleanup in the Environmental Protection Agency’s history, and removing debris at a historic pace in Pacific Palisades. Yet even in well-resourced areas, residents of multifamily and nontraditional housing are often overlooked. For example, th...

John Smith in Enterprise 2026-01-07 23:13:24

Building Stronger Homes in Storm-Prone Southern Louisiana

When back-to-back Hurricanes Laura and Delta struck Lake Charles, Louisiana, during the 2020 pandemic, Mildred Miller was living temporarily with a friend. The violent storms and flooding forced them to evacuate, leaving Miller alone and without shelter. “I didn’t have any place to go and really didn’t know what I was going to do,” said Miller, 78. “I even slept in my car a few times. I can’t believe I lived through all of that.” Miller...

Sarah Williams in Enterprise 2025-12-31 18:43:38

A Plan to Simplify Housing in California

The goal of the Governor's Reorganization Plan is to usher in structural changes needed in California to streamline funding programs and to improve coordination across housing and homelessness policies.On July 5, Governor Gavin Newsom’s Reorganization Plan(link is external) (GRP) went into effect with the goal of ushering in the structural changes needed in California to effectively address the affordable housing and homelessness crisis.The GRP d...

Jane Jones in Enterprise 2026-01-11 17:24:25

Aging in Place, at Home

Diane Heard and Vickie Wilson, former Motown backup singers, current residents of Van Dyke CenterFifty years ago, cousins Diane Heard and Vickie Wilson were professional backup singers, recording with some of Motown’s top acts.Today, the cousins are still singing together at Detroit’s Van Dyke Center, an affordable housing community for older adults and people with disabilities managed by the Detroit Pastoral Catholic Alliance. Heard, 76, and Wil...

Robert Jones in Enterprise 2026-01-08 09:04:21

Husband-Wife Team Bring Affordable Housing to D.C. Veterans

In the heart of Washington, D.C., where affordable housing options remain scarce, Richard Cunningham and Jésyl Crowdy-Cunningham are leading a quiet but powerful transformation to ensure veterans have a safe place to live. Through their firm, Cunningham Real Estate Holdings, the husband-and-wife team has become a steadfast presence in the city, operating 160 mixed-income rental homes across a dozen communities, and with more in development.For th...

David Brown in Enterprise 2026-01-14 08:40:43

A Bipartisan Understanding

Enterprise's Ohio Market Leader Ayonna Blue Donald (left) and State & Local Policy Director Hazel Remesch (right) with City Club of Cleveland forum speakers: Reporter Michelle Jarboe, Enterprise CEO & President Shaun Donovan, and Senator Michele ReynoldsPerspectives may differ, but the numbers don’t lie: Nationwide, we are short roughly 7 million homes, while homelessness has increased 30% across the country over the past two years. In Oh...

Michael Miller in Enterprise 2026-01-20 05:50:19

Planning Resilient Recovery in Los Angeles County Can’t Wait

As affordable housing advocates and Angelenos, our hearts are with everyone who has suffered from the recent wildfires. The loss and displacement weigh heavy, and our immediate focus remains to ensure everyone has a place to shelter and sleep.We’re also aware of the urgent need to begin planning rebuilding efforts across greater Los Angeles – even while residents, businesses, and workers assess the damage. Delays in planning could result in prolo...

David Williams in Enterprise 2026-01-16 17:41:12

Disaster Recovery Reforms Advance in the Senate

Last month, the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee unanimously approved(link is external) the bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act — the most comprehensive housing authorization effort in 17 years. Led by Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the bill consolidates dozens of previously introduced measures into the most comprehensive housing package since the 1990s. Enterprise is proud the legislation c...

Jennifer Jones in Enterprise 2026-01-24 09:40:24

A Lifetime of Building Community in New Orleans

Emelda Paul was 23 when she moved to a new apartment just a few blocks and “over the tracks” from her childhood home. She had three young daughters, and Lafitte — the public housing complex in New Orleans’ storied Tremé neighborhood — felt like the perfect place to raise a family. Nearly 70 years later, Paul calls herself a lifetime Lafitte resident, even after the bricks of the original buildings have been replaced with colorful rows of tow...

Jane Smith in Enterprise 2026-01-08 20:38:51

8 Developer-Approved Strategies for Navigating a Volatile Housing Market

Panelists at the 2025 Central Midwest Partner Retreat share strategies for building long-term operational health in affordable housing—emphasizing asset management, data-driven planning, and resilience in an evolving market.The affordable housing landscape is increasingly defined by complexity — rising costs, volatile capital markets, and a policy environment full of both opportunities and roadblocks. But at the 2025 Central Midwest Partner Retre...

Emily Johnson in Enterprise 2026-01-07 23:50:30

Investing in Recovery: 20 Years After Katrina

Tens of thousands of families across the Gulf Coast dealt with the tasks of rebuilding water damaged homes.On the Saturday before Hurricane Katrina made landfall, George Dupuy managed to secure one of the last RVs in the New Orleans area. The family packed it with essentials and personal belongings, before joining the miles-long traffic jam heading west. What was supposed to be a brief evacuation turned into months at a KOA campground outsid...

Michael Johnson in Enterprise 2026-01-23 08:03:49

A Critical Resource for Long-Term Disaster Recovery Across America

In 2024, Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, causing an estimated $53 billion(link is external) in damages. The storm led to (link is external)1,400 landslides, damaged over 160 water and sewer systems, and disrupted transportation across 6,000 miles of roads and more than 1,000 bridges. Tragically, 96 lives were lost.In response, North Carolina was awarded approximately $1.4 billion in Community Development Block Grant–Disaster R...

Robert Johnson in Enterprise 2025-12-29 19:41:19

Why Don’t We Know More about Post-Disaster Homelessness?

When a hurricane, wildfire or tornado hits, tens of thousands of households can become homeless in a matter of hours. Homes destroyed or substantially damaged by wind, water, smoke and flames that make them uninhabitable, even if temporarily, can leave families in immediate need of a place to live. Most disaster survivors eventually regain some form of permanent housing, either in the same location or somewhere new, where they can begin the ...

John Jones in Enterprise 2026-01-24 01:13:18

Four Key Findings from the 2025 State of the Nation’s Housing Report

More Americans are experiencing the impacts of the nation’s worsening housing affordability crisis. Families are struggling to remain housed in an environment where many renters can narrowly afford their housing costs, disasters are endangering communities, and homeownership slips further out of reach.  These are key findings from a new national report from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS), The State of the Nation’s Housing ...

Robert Miller in Enterprise 2026-01-12 10:31:26

What We Stand For

It's the start of a new season – albeit amid a season of uncertainty. In the past few weeks, we’ve confronted unprecedented disruptions not just to our work, but to the work of our partners and indeed the entire affordable housing and community development sector. As we embrace the arrival of longer days and warmer temperatures, I’m emboldened by the collective resolve of our allies to protect critical funding that builds and preserves affor...

John Brown in Enterprise 2026-01-20 07:11:37

California Budget Negotiations Enter Final Phase

California Gov. Gavin Newsom released a revised budget proposal(link is external) last week, kicking off final negotiations with the Legislature. The May Revision addresses the state's $12 billion budget shortfall by making cuts, shifting funds, and tapping into reserves.While the May Revision emphasizes the effort to reorganize the state’s housing functions into one entity, the California Housing and Homelessness Agency, the revised proposa...

John Johnson in Enterprise 2025-12-28 05:35:20

GO Zone Aided Katrina Recovery But Preservation Risks Loom

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, with a long and daunting road ahead, Gulf Coast states looked to the federal government for help. The first major lifeline from Washington would be the Gulf Opportunity Zone (GO Zone) Act of 2005(link is external).The legislation provided a big boost to rebuilding housing in part through supercharging the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (housing credit) and multiplying credit allocations to disaster areas. Although...

Jennifer Williams in Enterprise 2026-01-07 09:43:51

Dream Coming True for West Baltimore Church and Community

Pastor Rod Hudson at the Ames Memorial United Methodist Church in West Baltimore“This is where it all began, right here at this church,” said Pastor Rod Hudson, standing outside the Ames Memorial United Methodist Church in West Baltimore. When Hudson arrived at the church in 2008 as the new senior pastor, he was handed an important piece of history from a Mr. Bill Adams, a congregation member and keeper of the church’s decades-long vision to tran...

Michael Jones in Enterprise 2026-01-08 23:40:32

How the CDFI Fund Unlocks Capital that Drives Local Economic Development

In rural Vermont, investment dollars are helping to fund a mixed-use development with community facilities and restaurants that provide local jobs. Across the country in Everett, Washington, a unique mixed-use project combines affordable housing with job training and social services for low-income, formerly homeless, and veteran populations. In Oakland, California, loans helped keep rents affordable for 55 families, assuring they can stay in thei...

Sarah Brown in Enterprise 2026-01-06 09:58:50

Supporting Each Resident: 20 Years After Hurricane Katrina

Ryan Brock's family home in New Orleans East, before and after Hurricane KatrinaSeveral days before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Ryan Brock packed up a few changes of clothes and drove to Houston, thinking he would be gone for just a few days. When he returned with his family two weeks later to assess the damage, he found neighborhoods transformed and his former home “gray and covered in mud.” “That’s when it really hit me. The whole t...

David Miller in Enterprise 2026-01-01 10:32:25

President’s FY26 “Skinny” Budget Makes Significant Cuts to Housing and Community Development

President Trump has released a blueprint(link is external) for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget that proposes significant reductions or elimination of major housing and community development programs. The administration has stated an interest in lowering the cost of living and increasing housing supply, but the cuts laid out in this proposal would stunt construction and preservation and increase the cost of housing and utilities for families acro...

John Brown in Enterprise 2026-01-16 11:49:19

Rescuing Ourselves: 20 Years After Hurricane Katrina

Four days after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Kwamé Juakali was walking with his family along the Interstate highway toward the Superdome, seeking shelter, food, and water. Juakali was 15 at the time and recalls coming across two older men in a car who were begging for water.  “As exhausted and mentally drained as we were, I realized we were in better shape than a lot of people,” Juakali said. “But we didn’t have any water and co...

David Williams in Enterprise 2026-01-15 17:06:41

A Bid to Make New Markets Tax Credit Permanent

Last week, lawmakers introduced bipartisan legislation that would make the New Markets Tax Credit a permanent part of the tax code, solidifying a program that has supported more than 8,500 business and community-driven projects and created more than a million jobs across the country since it was created in 2000.Reps. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) and Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), along with Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.), introduced(link...

Jane Miller in Enterprise 2026-01-09 19:12:43

Unlocking Transformative Development

Spanish VersionIn Toledo, Ohio, the city established a $37 million loan pool to provide financing for housing rehabilitation, real property acquisition, and economic development. In Oakland, California, a $34 million loan pool supports developers operating in historically underinvested neighborhoods. Both cities tapped into HUD’s Section 108 loan guarantee program, which provides communities of all sizes with low-cost, long-term, fixed-rate ...

Robert Miller in Enterprise 2026-01-08 18:41:40

Trump-Vance Administration Releases Full President’s Budget Request for FY26

President Trump has released his request for the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget(link is external), signaling the administration’s priorities and providing a jumping off point for the congressional appropriations process for FY26. The president’s budget request proposes significant reductions or elimination of major housing and community development programs. The budget request, while not legally binding, builds on the administration’s broader eff...

Jennifer Miller in Enterprise 2026-01-08 02:17:57

Helping Eastern Kentucky Recover from Devastating Floods

A capacity-building grant from Enterprise allowed HDA to hire a flood construction specialist to help communities recover faster.In July of 2022, a thousand-year flood swept through eastern Kentucky leading to the loss of 44 lives and destroying and damaging thousands of houses. One of the worst floods in the state’s history, 13 counties(link is external) were declared disaster areas, and the long, arduous recovery process began in this remote, i...

John Miller in Enterprise 2026-01-19 13:37:47

Behind $3 Billion in Lending: 3 Projects that Demonstrate the Power of CDFIs

“Community development financial institutions are one of the most effective, durable economic development tools we have,” said Elise Balboni, executive vice president of Enterprise Community Loan Fund, Enterprise Community Partners’ CDFI. “They don’t just fund important community-serving projects—they help create sustainable economic ecosystems.”That’s the model behind Enterprise Community Loan Fund, which has surpassed $3 billion in cumulative l...

Sarah Davis in Enterprise 2026-01-23 12:00:56

From LIHTC to Homeownership: Innovation Gains Ground in the Deep South

A single-family LIHTC development in Mississippi where HOPE's Y16 innovation is helping long-term renters purchase their homesAcross the state of Mississippi, more than 5,000 single-family homes stand poised to transition from Low-Income Housing Tax Credit rentals to homeownership opportunities through the Single-Family Lease Purchase Homeownership Program administered by Mississippi Home Corporation. Making that conversion viable for the renters...

Jane Johnson in Enterprise 2026-01-07 22:08:34

Denver Regional TOD Fund Expands Affordable Homes in Littleton

Rendering by KEPHART architectural design and planning firm. Courtesy of South Metro Housing Options.The housing authority for the City of Littleton, Colorado, is embarking on its third development in as many years, thanks in part to the Denver Regional Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Fund. A 73-unit, mixed-income community along the bustling West Littleton Boulevard corridor, Starlight Apartments will welcome residents in 2027, pending a Low-...

Robert Johnson in Enterprise 2026-01-03 05:46:50

Co-Designed, Community-Led: A New Vision for Disability-Forward Housing

Darcy McCann lived in an apartment in Santa Clara, California for 23 years but frequently felt lonely. McCann, who has cerebral palsy and is studying to become a clinical psychologist, says she has found a new sense of community since moving into her new home at The Kelsey Ayer Station in nearby San Jose.“I have a sense that I really belong here, that I’m just like anybody else,” said McCann, who says she no longer feels isolated. “Here I can cel...

Jennifer Davis in Enterprise 2026-01-04 19:02:12
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