Affordable Housing Preservation
Housing Policy
Public Housing

Affordable Housing Preservation

Purpose
Window of Opportunity: Preserving Affordable Rental Housing is a $150 million initiative to preserve and improve affordable rental housing across the country. Through this effort, the Foundation supports policy analysis, data collection and expert assistance to encourage investment in rental housing and sound policies at federal, state and local levels. MacArthur also provides funding for 25 mission-driven housing developers and public-sector preservation initiatives in Chicago, New York City and 10 other states and localities across the country. Combined, we expect these investments to directly help preserve and improve at least 300,000 affordable rental homes nationwide.

More broadly, our goal is to stimulate lasting housing policy reforms and new development and lending practices that:

• Make it easier, faster and more cost-effective for affordable rental property owners to retain and renew the existing stock;
• Reverse the loss of existing, affordable rental homes by providing resources and regulatory incentives to preserve at least 1 million units over the decade ahead.

 For additional background on the Window of Opportunity initiative, read the brochure.

Funding
In November 2007, MacArthur announced $35 million in new funding for innovative public sector initiatives to preserve and improve the existing stock of privately owned affordable rental homes.  Eligible applicants are invited to submit Letters of Interest following the guidelines of an RFP.  On or before Friday, March 14, 2008, a limited number of these applicants will be invited to submit full proposals to the Foundation.

Aside from the state and nationwide competition, the Foundation is not accepting unsolicited proposals.

Further questions about this grantmaking area can be e-mailed to preservation at the MacArthur Foundation.

Housing Policy

Purpose
A broad body of evidence increasingly suggests that access to decent, affordable housing can enhance outcomes across a range of social and economic policy challenges, including education, public health, social services, criminal justice, and welfare reform.

Compelling findings from a range of fields draw critical links between housing and issues of national policy concern, such as increasing labor market participation among low-income people, the uninsured, and improving public education.  The Foundation's grantmaking is intended to raise the priority and profile of affordable housing policy by investing in the creation of new knowledge about the supply and demand for rental housing and affordable housing's connection to other social policy issues.

Strategy
An exploratory grantmaking approach encompasses research, convening, and dissemination activities and support for original research exploring the relationship between affordable housing and outcomes for children, families, and communities.  These grants are intended to support the development of new perspectives among policy makers about the value of an importance of affordable housing in general, and of rental housing in particular.

Funding
The Foundation is reviewing its current portfolio of grants related to housing policy and exploring new directions in housing research, and is not now accepting unsolicited proposals.

Public Housing

Purpose
The Chicago Housing Authority is implementing an ambitious Plan for Transformation of public housing that includes the redefinition of the functions of the agency and a $1.6 billion capital program to demolish more than 16,000 units of housing and to rehabilitate or build  25,000 units over ten years.

Through its grantmaking and other work, the Foundation seeks to help Chicago take advantage of this historic opportunity to improve the quality of public housing; to diminish the isolation of public housing and its residents; to support the development of well-designed mixed-income communities where public housing is located; and to provide a model of neighborhood revitalization that will be useful to other cities. Grants are intended to help ensure that participating groups and agencies have the capacity to meet the challenge; that new development meets high standards of quality in urban planning, architectural design, and execution; and that residents receive the support they need in making major changes in their lives.

Strategies
Recognizing that the transformation of public housing is the work of many public and private agencies and organizations, the Foundation's grantmaking:

• supports efforts to ensure that critical processes—such as relocation, counseling, and the development of mixed-income housing—work well for current residents of public housing and for neighborhoods; and
• provides support to build the capacity of the agencies and organizations whose combined efforts are needed for the transformation of public housing to succeed.

The Foundation also provides funds for efforts to help ensure the success of new mixed-income communities through its participation in the Partnership for New Communities, a group of civic and corporate leaders committed to vital neighborhoods and the success of the Plan for Transformation.

Funding
Most grants supporting work on public housing are initiated by the Foundation, but some may be made in response to unsolicited requests. Those seeking support should submit a letter of inquiry. The format for such letters can be found in How to Apply for Grants.

Questions about this grantmaking area can be e-mailed to public housing at the MacArthur Foundation.