Community Development Finance – what started as a movement rooted in organizing and an alternative to traditional banking and development approaches has become just as risk-averse at a moment when displacement and rising housing costs widen the wealth gap. But what’s worked in the past doesn’t have to be the way of the future. What would it take to wield capital as a force for good truly?
Our session will bring together social change innovators, cultivating new paths to move capital in and with the community while setting new benchmarks for equitable development. We will bring participants along the journey of capital needed for community at various stages of development. Our discussion will begin with a current state of play in community finance & ownership, exploring different models and the capital needed for early-stage projects. We’ll move along the spectrum to explore Grounded Solutions’ Innovative Finance team’s latest capital solution focused on acquiring single-family homes to transition them to shared equity ownership. By raising the Homes for the Future fund, we highlight how equity and equity-like capital can preserve housing as both rental and ownership opportunities, thereby shrinking racial and geographic disparities in health and wealth. Our journey concludes with the Colorado Housing Accelerator Initiative (CHAI), a social enterprise that exemplifies the power of pooling mission-driven capital for middle-income housing projects. Through the lens of Weave Finance, we illustrate the significance of direct capitalization to executing organizations in the real estate sector, emphasizing the importance of time, certainty, and capital compatibility.
Key Takeaways include exploring strategies for acquiring homes and transitioning to shared equity to combat disparities; highlighting the role of direct capitalization in achieving timely & impactful real estate projects; and understanding innovative uses of capital in creating equitable housing opportunities.
