News / Blog

Front Porch Investments is pleased to announce over $13 million in awards from the third cycle of the Development and Preservation Fund through a partnership with the City of Omaha braiding philanthropic dollars with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars. The Development and Preservation Fund supports affordable housing development and preservation projects as well as affordable housing supportive organizations and programs. The Fall 2023 awards bring the total amount awarded to date through this partnership to over $27 million.

Philanthropy must seek long term outcomes, including both parity and equity concerning access to household and generational wealth. On Juneteenth 2023, Front Porch Investments launched a Greenlining Fund to provide intentional, community-led reinvestment to Eastern Omaha. The fund will direct resources to create or maintain homeownership in areas that have experienced decades of historical disinvestment through policies and practices including redlining. The first of its kind in Nebraska, the Greenlining Fund is also one of only a few national large-scale funds specifically focused on addressing deeply rooted systems of racial bias, discrimination, and segregation.

The Front Porch Investments' Home Equity Loan Fund (HELF) is designed to assist households with home repair and home renovation by providing zero-interest financing, fully amortized over a 30-year term, administered in partnership with Impact Development Fund, serving as the direct-to-consumer loan originator and servicer in accordance with consumer lending regulations. Front Porch Investment’s (FPI) Greenlining Fund is an opportunity to provide intentional reinvestment and direct resources to create or maintain homeownership in areas that have experienced historical disinvestment through redlining or other disadvantages.

Front Porch Investment launches the Greenlining Fund on June 19, 2023, providing intentional, community-led reinvestment to Eastern Omaha. The fund will direct resources to create or maintain homeownership in areas that have experienced decades of historical disinvestment through policies and practices including redlining. The first of its kind in Nebraska, the Greenlining Fund is also one of only a few national large-scale funds focused on addressing deeply rooted systems of racial bias, discrimination, and segregation. 

We are pleased to announce over $11 million in the second round of Development and Preservation Fund awards through a partnership matching philanthropic dollars with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to support affordable housing development and preservation projects, as well as affordable housing supportive programs. 

One specific effort of the Community Advisory Committee (Greenlining Fund of Front Porch Investments) is to prioritize the program and impact that the Greenlining Fund will support for its pilot launch. Quickly, we realized together that we needed to first understand what down payment assistance resources already existed in the community, and what the usability of those resources are. A third question was: do the intended users and beneficiaries know about those resources? Learn more in this blog post.

Read this article for a summary of the Appropriations Committee of the Nebraska Legislature hearing of five bills on March 8th that would appropriate funds to expand the state’s ability to produce affordable housing.  Supporters representing for-profit and non-profit housing developers, multiple Chambers of Commerce, banking associations, municipalities, philanthropy, and a variety of nonprofits appeared in person and provided written comments in support of these bills. 

The Strategic Housing Council, with support from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, Wellstone Collaborative Strategies, Queen City Development, and NIFA Board and staff, developed Nebraska's 2022 Strategic Housing Framework to outline the way forward.

Vision Statement: All Nebraskans have safe, affordable, quality housing choices to rent or own. As a result, affordable housing is the driver of community well-being and economic opportunity.

Non congregate temporary housing is created to reduce shelter density, and support community members over the age of 65 years of age, or those with medical fragility or vulnerabilities as a COVID-19 response. Injecting a human-centered approach to prevention, this project and partnership provided an opportunity to also prioritize exits to permanent housing. This article shares more detail about the non congregate site in Omaha, Nebraska.

"Housing really is this foundational piece from which everything else stems. Growing up I remember being taught that some of the basic human needs are…food, water, sleep, shelter. At Front Porch, we build upon that and believe that housing is not only a basic and elemental human need, but a human right. Everyone deserves access to safe, affordable housing. Everyone." -Tess Houser, Awards Administrator, Front Porch Investments

We are pleased to announce $11 million in the first round of Development and Preservation Fund awards through a partnership that matches philanthropic dollars with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to support affordable housing development and preservation projects, as well as affordable housing supportive programs. 

Planning grants are typically sought by nonprofit agencies when a project, plan, strategy, or initiative needs to be developed from the beginning stages of an idea. The outcome of a planning grant is a structured plan of action, product, program design, or solution. In this post, we will share more about planning grants, how to use them, and when to apply for one.

Glossary Terms Q-Z from our Words Matter series.

Glossary Terms N-P from our Words Matter series.

Glossary Terms I-M from our Words Matter series.

Glossary Terms E-H from our Words Matter series.

Glossary Terms C-D from our Words Matter series.

Glossary Terms A-B from our Words Matter series.

In May, 2022, Front Porch Investments announced over $7.3 million in awards for the Innovation Round of funding for affordable housing development and preservation projects, as well as affordable housing supportive programs. The pilot program received 37 applications, totaling $49.6 million requests. A scoring committee reviewed applications based on a range of criteria, and loan funding applications went through rigorous underwriting by a funds management partner.  

We are all part of the solution when it comes to addressing our affordable housing crisis in the Greater Omaha Metro. In order to accomplish our mission, we seek partnership and collaboration from applicants seeking funding from Front Porch Investments.  

Our Priorities Checklist was developed through the contributions and feedback of a large stakeholder group in the early months of 2021, following the completion of the assessment of housing affordability, needs, and priorities.