Non-profit organization Enterprise Community Partners has partnered with Faith-Based Development Initiative (FBDI) to help Baltimore places of worship build affordable homes on unused and underutilized land.
The Wells Fargo Foundation will fund the program with a $500,000 grant to 12 houses of worship to address the affordable housing shortage.
Organizations participating in the program will gain access to grant funding; training; technical assistance; tools; access to experts and partners, such as architects and designers, real estate lawyers and consultants; and peer-to-peer learning and networking.
“We’re grateful to be a part of this movement that is paving new avenues for the creation of more quality affordable homes that will make a real difference in opening up economic opportunity for people in Baltimore and across the nation,” said Eileen Fitzgerald, Wells Fargo’s head of housing affordability philanthropy, in a statement. “As community anchors, houses of worship are at the center of so many lives and working together, we can bring a whole new level of innovation to the housing supply challenge.”
Baltimore is part of a nationwide expansion of Enterprise’s Faith-Based Development Initiative, supported by a $8.5 million donation from Wells Fargo.
Rev. David Bowers, vice president of Enterprise’s Mid-Atlantic Market and senior advisor for the Faith-Based Development Initiative said, “We look forward to working with faith leaders from across the City of Baltimore to help their houses of worship make a meaningful difference in their communities by creating safe and affordable places to live.”
Visit EnterpriseCommunity.org for more information or how to get involved.
