Five years ago, Front Porch Investments began with a regional challenge: Too many people in the Omaha-Council Bluffs area could not find a safe, affordable place to call home, while promising housing projects and solutions often lacked the flexible funding needed to move forward.
Our founding supporters understood that this challenge could not be addressed by one project, organization or funding source. Our region needed a coordinated approach that brought together capital, community perspectives, innovative ideas, policy solutions and strong partnerships.
Front Porch Investments was created to help fill that role.
Since 2021, we have worked alongside developers, funders, community organizations, residents and public-sector partners to:
- Deployed $57.6 million in loans
- Awarded $12 million in grants to 40 organizations
- Helped finance the creation or preservation of 3,464 homes
- Leveraged $903.1 million in total housing development
These numbers represent meaningful progress, but they tell only part of the story. Behind each one is a home created, an existing property preserved, a new idea tested or a partnership strengthened.
As we mark five years of Front Porch Investments, we are reflecting on the people, partnerships and progress that have shaped our story.
Helping Housing Projects Move Forward
A housing development can have a strong plan, committed partners and a clear community need and still face a financing gap that prevents it from moving forward.
Through our Development & Preservation Fund, Front Porch Investments provides flexible, low-interest loans that help fill those gaps. Because it is a revolving loan fund, dollars repaid from one project can be reinvested in another, allowing the same capital to continue working in our community.
Over the past five years, we have invested $57.6 million in the development or preservation of more than 3,156 homes. These investments have supported multifamily apartments, mixed-income communities, townhomes and affordable homeownership opportunities across the region.
Protecting the Homes We Already Have
Building new housing is essential, but so is preserving the affordable homes that already exist.
Without timely investment, housing can deteriorate, become financially unsustainable or be converted to higher-cost units. Preservation financing helps property owners make essential improvements, maintain safe living conditions and keep homes affordable over the long term.
Since 2021, Front Porch Investments has helped preserve more than 500 homes, protecting an important part of our region’s housing supply while supporting stability for residents and neighborhoods.
Reinvesting in Historically Redlined Communities
The housing inequities we see today did not happen by accident. Decades of redlining and disinvestment limited homeownership opportunities and made it more difficult for families in many communities to build and transfer wealth.
The Greenlining Fund reinvests in historically redlined areas by supporting home repairs, down payment assistance and other strategies that expand homeownership and help prevent displacement. Residents help guide this work, bringing their experiences and priorities directly into funding decisions.
Through the Greenlining Fund, Front Porch Investments has awarded nearly $3 million to 5 organizations. Later this fall, we will introduce a refreshed homeownership strategy shaped by research and community input from homeowners and prospective homeowners in formerly redlined areas of North Omaha, South Omaha and Council Bluffs.
Testing New Approaches
Meeting the scale of the housing challenge requires us to strengthen proven strategies while also making room for new ideas.
Our Innovation Fund supports research, tools, construction methods and housing models that could help the region create more affordable homes faster and more equitably. These investments allow partners to test promising approaches, learn from the results and build solutions that could be expanded over time.
Across all its grants, Front Porch has awarded more than $12 million to projects that can help the Omaha region produce and preserve affordable housing more effectively, efficiently, and equitably.
Improving the Systems Around Housing
Capital is critical, but funding alone cannot overcome every barrier.
Local, state and federal policies influence where housing can be built, how long development takes and how much it costs. Front Porch Investments works with public officials, housing partners and community members to identify barriers, share expertise and advocate for policies and processes that support housing production and preservation.
By connecting this policy work with lending, grantmaking and community input, we can help create an environment where strong housing solutions are more likely to succeed.
The Work Ahead
Our first five years have shown what is possible when a region works together around a shared goal. This milestone belongs to everyone who has contributed time, expertise, resources and trust to the work, including our staff, Board of Directors, committees, funders, borrowers, grantees, community partners and residents.
It has also reinforced how much work remains.
According to the City of Omaha’s 2025 Affordable Housing Report, showed a shortage of 30,000 additional homes needed by 2035. Meanwhile, U.S. Census Bureau data shows that 31% of households in Douglas County are cost burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing, leaving less for food, health care, transportation and other necessities. These challenges make continued coordination and investment essential.
During the next five years, we will continue financing the creation and preservation of affordable homes, expanding homeownership opportunities, investing in new ideas, elevating community perspectives and advocating for policies that help housing solutions move forward.
We are proud of what we have built together and excited to keep building what comes next.
