The Habitat NYC Community Fund is sponsored by Habitat for Humanity New York City and Westchester County. The Habitat NYC Community Fund supports low- to moderate-income New Yorkers by making loans to existing resident-owned multi-family affordable housing developments and nonprofit affordable housing developers.

The Habitat NYC Community Fund - Habitat NYC and Westchester and tags, as close as possible to the opening tag. --> The Habitat NYC Community Fund Investing in New York’s affordable future The Habitat NYC Community Fund is a critical piece of our Housing Preservation Program , providing those who need it most with access to affordable financing.

The Fund is a market-based, sustainable approach to supporting, preserving and creating affordable housing. A CDFI is a mission-driven financial institution that is dedicated to providing financial services to meet the needs of economically disadvantaged and underserved communities. By responsibly lending to individuals, not-for-profits, organizations and more, CDFIs create real impact where it is most needed.

CDFIs can take many forms – a CDFI can be a bank, credit union, loan fund, microloan fund, or venture capital provider. CDFIs are certified and regulated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and every CDFI is required to maintain accountability to the community it serves. What does the Habitat NYC Community Fund do?

The Habitat NYC Community Fund supports low- to moderate-income New Yorkers by making loans to existing resident-owned multi-family affordable housing developments and nonprofit affordable housing developers. A low cost, appropriately sized loan from the Community Fund allows housing developments to be affordable for many years to come.

Lending to not-for-profit affordable housing developers, including Habitat for Humanity affiliates across New York State, gives them access to credit they need, but are unable to get through traditional capital markets, where small loans are unavailable or cost prohibitive.

New York City housing agencies estimate that more than two thousand affordable housing units are at risk of being lost through foreclosure or market-rate deregulation each year. Each unit that goes through a third party transfer or foreclosure process costs the City more than $120,000 of public funding.

By keeping these units affordable to low- to moderate-income families, the Habitat NYC Community Fund will not only ensure that the resident-owners have a stable place to live and equity in their homes, but it will keep the public from paying millions of dollars in direct costs for each lost units. Investing in the Habitat NYC Community Fund An investment in the Habitat NYC Community Fund is an investment in your community.

Your socially responsible investment supports the people in our community that would otherwise have limited access to affordable capital. Investments in the Community Fund may count toward CRA requirements or as a PRI Investment. To discuss a potential partnership, please contact Dan Fielding .

How can my organization borrow from the Community Fund?

The Habitat NYC Community Fund offers products for: • Replacement or repair of building systems, rehab projects or major capital improvements • Emergencies, including urgent financial and physical conditions • Implementation of green building projects (solar panel installation, etc.) • Consolidation of municipal arrears (including water, taxes, liens, fines, violations, etc.) • Hard and soft costs related to rehab projects • Pre-development costs (market studies, architecture, engineering soft costs, etc.) and construction costs for other not-for-profit developers throughout New York State Depending on the product, the loans can be up to $500,000, short or long-term, and can be subordinated to senior lenders.

To discuss a potential loan from the Habitat NYC Community Fund, please contact Steven Mao . If you are interested in homeownership, please visit our Home Purchase Program page. Lent across 25 loans closed to date Families served through loans from the Community Fund Units of new or preserved housing that the Fund plans to support in the next five years.

Accreditations & Memberships Read about our Federal Compliance . Fr. Stephen Mimnaugh, OFM Franciscan friar, St.

Bonaventure University The Center for NYC Neighborhoods Neighborhood Preservation Coalition Community Development Analyst Habitat NYC and Westchester High Impact Financial Analysis, LLC Superior Servicing HeadQuarters, LLC Through a six-month Bridge Loan, residents were able to pay off the building’s outstanding debts and access tax refunds to pay down the new financing quickly.

2178 Atlantic Avenue HDFC, a modest apartment building with geometric brickwork over the windows and on the frieze was built in 1910 and is home to 16 families. “Four sets of generations,” said Earline King, President of the 2178 Atlantic Ave Board for nearly 40 years. The building is in a Central Brooklyn community that was disinvested and a victim to racist housing laws, including redlining and racial discrimination.

With help from the City and Federal government, the rental building became an affordable co-op in 1980 as a Homesteader building, meaning that the perspective owners had to renovate the building themselves. “In the beginning, we all had participated in building our own apartment,” said Ms. King. “We did the floor then we helped with the walls, we helped create our apartments.

” The City of New York granted the building a 20-year tax abatement at the completion of the renovation and co-op conversion, helping to keep the building affordable for the families inside. The co-op was financially stable during those years, providing the Black and brown families who called the building home with a stable way to build equity and to remain in their communities.

However, after the abatement expired, things began to spiral out of control. The federal government sold the building’s debt to a private debt holder and the building, which as an HDFC is entitled to long-term property tax benefits, was incorrectly taxed as market-rate. The residents struggled to keep up with the ballooning tax bills.

The situation became untenable and the building was destabilized. They fought for more than a decade to get the tax relief that the City legally owed to the building through its status as an HDFC. But even after they secured it, the company who held the loan more than doubled their mortgage and the building was underwater.

The City was unable to release the back taxes they owed the building, until the foreclosure action was resolved. Habitat NYC and Westchester’s Housing Preservation Program worked with the building for more than a year, trying to figure out a solution to this problem. We worked hand in hand with two different City Councilmembers and with pro bono legal services from Brooklyn Law School, and Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP.

This partnership enabled the building to secure the tax exemption and a rebate, but the residents still needed to pay off part of their loan to avoid foreclosure. “Every time we thought we won a battle, [there was] something else,” said Ms. King.

Through a six-month Bridge Loan from the Habitat NYC Community Fund, the residents were able to pay off the building’s outstanding debts and access approximately $500,000 in tax refunds to pay down the new financing quickly. Our Housing Preservation Program provided technical assistance for the co-op so the HDFC could access the necessary financing and return the building to its resident owners.

Clermont Area HDFC found themselves in need of critical capital improvements and additional energy-efficiency measures that would cost almost $5 million. Clermont Area HDFC is a 41-unit limited-equity cooperative formed in 1968. They found themselves in need of critical capital improvements and additional energy-efficiency measures that would cost almost $5 million.

The HDFC entered into a New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) loan program to finance the extensive rehabilitation work but encountered a new insurmountable obstacle. The HPD loan would not cover the soft costs associated with the application loan process, such as legal fees and filing. The HDFC could not afford to cover these softs costs—they were unable to enter the loan program.

The Community Fund provided a $360,000 loan that transformed the building’s future. The loan covered the soft costs and helped to pay for outstanding operating expenses that the HDFC was struggling to pay, including $150,000 worth of water and sewer charges. Our loan enabled the HDFC to qualify for three additional mortgages, essentially “unlocking” a total of $4,887,771 of financing.

Vernon C. , General Manager at Prestige Management, which provides service to the building, says Habitat’s loan means an immense impact for residents and shareholders. “Now we’re able to seal up the envelope of the building…The replacement of the boiler helps to ensure the heating system’s going to work properly all season long, which is paramount.

When the elevators are replaced or substantially upgraded, this will be significant especially for the seniors and elderly. Those things are very important. ” He says that the Community Fund team’s patience and grace actively protected the funds earmarked for the Clermont Area HDFC from being re-allocated elsewhere when the HDFC encountered repeated obstacles and delays.

“It’s definitely a story worth telling and we’re very appreciative of the assistance we received from Habitat. ” Our partnership with 100 Ralph Avenue exemplifies how Habitat’s homeownership and preservation programs can work together to create, and then support the preservation of, affordable housing.

Our partnership with 100 Ralph Avenue, an eight-unit condominium that Habitat NYC and Westchester developed in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, exemplifies how Habitat’s homeownership and preservation programs can work together to create, and then support the preservation of, affordable housing. The 100 Ralph Avenue residents became Habitat homeowners in 2015 via our First Time Homebuyer Program.

A rehab project, it became evident over time that the building had multiple physical issues, particularly the roof, which was not new construction. In June 2024, the Fund made a $50,000 loan to the condo to replace the roof entirely and ensure the long-term stability and safety of their homes. The building was otherwise doing well, but this loan was crucial to enabling residents to address much-needed repairs and improvements.

The Fund was able to stand in the gap. All eight of the original homeowners still occupy the building, encompassing the longevity of tenure that Habitat strives to create, fostering safe, secure families and resilient communities. Our ongoing partnership with Steuben Habitat has facilitated multiple loans and a multifaceted approach to preserving affordable homeownership.

In March 2021, the Habitat NYC Community Fund provided a $105,000 loan to Steuben County Habitat for Humanity to support their home building efforts. The funds were used to cover the balance of the acquisition cost of a modular home, as well as some associated hard and soft costs. Having missed several deadlines on sales in the years prior, Steuben Habitat was unable to renew their line of credit when it matured in December 2020.

A homebuyer was ready to purchase the home, but the cash crunch made the completion of the house impossible without a loan from the Community Fund. In May 2023, the Community Fund provided another $105,000 loan to Steuben Habitat to support their home purchase and resale efforts.

To preserve an affordable home in Corning, New York, Steuben Habitat used a portion of the loan to re-purchase a home it previously sold to a Habitat homeowner. Doing so would allow the home to be resold to another low- to moderate-income family. The existing Habitat homeowner, who had resided in her home for approximately 10 years, contacted Steuben Habitat with the express wish of having her home resold at an affordable rate.

Steuben Habitat used $50,000 of the loan proceeds to buy out the equity of the current homeowner, with the remaining balance of the loan going toward capital improvements to the home.

“The Community Fund has been an ideal partner in helping us to increase our local impact by providing us flexible financing when we need it to create and preserve affordable homeownership opportunities in our community,” said Steven Daniels, executive director, Steuben Habitat.

“This loan will enable us to preserve an affordable homeownership opportunity and offer to another family a path to building home equity, and to the generational benefits that go with it. ” The loan will be repaid by the home sale proceeds to Steuben Habitat.

These flexible terms were developed to give the organization sufficient time to make necessary renovations to the property and then sell it, without the pressure of making loan repayments. The Community Fund’s continued partnership with Steuben Habitat is an exciting example of how the Fund can continue increasing our impact and footprint. As of late-2024, the Fund is in the process of making a third loan to Steuben Habitat.

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