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.
A review committee including representatives from the City of Omaha, local housing-supportive organizations, and Front Porch Investments’ board of directors evaluated applications based on alignment with Front Porch and City of Omaha/ARPA priorities, with loan applications also undergoing rigorous underwriting by Front Porch Investments’ funds management partner.
"In the third round of this funding partnership we are pleased to be supporting a mix of short- and long-term loans that will catalyze new development, support the construction of affordable housing in key neighborhoods, and preserve existing affordable housing units that we cannot afford to lose. We are also pleased to offer flexible operating support to many housing-focused nonprofits to build the capacity of our local housing ecosystem,” said Erin Bock, Front Porch Investments’ board chair and interim executive director.
Loans
In the fall 2023 cycle, Front Porch Investments received 13 loan applications, totaling over $16 million in requests. Out of these, five loans were awarded for a total investment of over $9.3 million:
- 18HowardOwner, LLC - $3,000,000 Construction Loan
- Forever North Real Estate LLC - $3,000,000 Construction Loan
- inCOMMON Housing Development Corporation - $2,000,000 Acquisition and Pre-Development Loan
- My Landlord Properties, LLC – $998,049 Acquisition and Rehabilitation Loan
- New Visions Homeless Services - $350,000 Pre-Development Loan
Together, these projects will bring more than 380 new units of affordable housing into the City of Omaha and preserve the affordability of another 41 units, both of which are essential to meeting the goal of 18,000 new affordable units by 2030.
Grants
In this funding cycle, Front Porch awarded $3 million in one-time, unrestricted operating grants to 14 Omaha-based nonprofits working to increase access to permanent, affordable housing. Funds were distributed proportionally based on each organization’s eligible housing investments within the City of Omaha. Eligible expenses included housing development and rehab, operation of affordable housing, advocacy and policy, education and other programming, and direct rental assistance for permanent housing.
- Carole’s House of Hope - $26,711.69
- GESU Housing - $163,813.80
- Habitat for Humanity Omaha - $1,583,321.17
- Holy Name Housing - $172,729.29
- InCOMMON Housing Development Corporation - $58,171.28
- Notre Dame Housing - $3,428.52
- Omaha 100 - $37,522.31
- Omaha Municipal Land Bank - $59,479.10
- Project Houseworks - $201,123.74
- ReImagine - $28,192.48
- Seventy-Five North Revitalization Corporation - $435,321.00
- Sheltering Tree - $35,661.10
- Spark Capital - $143,514.90
- Youth Emergency Services - $51,009.61
In addition, program grants were awarded to two applicants carried over from the Spring 2023 cycle:
- Black and Pink National - $500,000 program grant
- International Council for Refugees and Immigrants (ICRI) - $274,254 program grant
The Development and Preservation Fund will accept applications again in February and August of 2024. To be notified when the spring cycle opens, please sign up for our newsletter here.
