HUD and LISC collaborated on an expansive new toolkit to help faith-based organizations expand affordable housing in their communities. The toolkit is aimed at HUD grantees interested in supporting faith-based housing strategies, and it draws on proven practices around the country—detailing the factors that enable successful projects, the roles and responsibilities of essential stakeholders, policy considerations, and financing strategies.
HUD teams up with LISC on development toolkit to help faith-based organizations fuel innovative housing solutions.
WASHINGTON (Jan. 22, 2025)— The Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has released a new toolkit to help HUD grantees and community developers support faith-based organizations that want to build and preserve affordable housing in their communities.
Developed in partnership with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), Working with Faith-Based Organizations on Affordable Housing Development is part of HUD’s broader work to support community-led affordable housing efforts—in particular, helping HUD grantees meet their housing supply, community development, climate resiliency, capacity building and racial equity goals. HUD grantees include state and local government, public housing authorities and nonprofit organizations.
The guide is essentially a toolkit for redeveloping closed and underutilized houses of worship. It draws on proven practices around the country, with summaries of the factors that empowered successful projects, roles and responsibilities of essential stakeholders, policy considerations, and financing strategies.
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This toolkit details the factors that enable successful projects, the roles and responsibilities of essential stakeholders, policy considerations, and financing strategies.
It highlights a range of project-specific case studies, such as the Sisters of Presentation working with the YWCA of Cass County to convert their former Fargo, N.D., convent into 23 affordable rental homes. And it features large initiatives as well, like a collaborative of multidenominational faith-based organizations and community groups in East Brooklyn, N.Y., building thousands of affordable single-family and multi-family homes.
The guide also dives into technical assistance and financing programs that illustrate what’s needed to help faith-based organizations contribute to local housing goals.
For example, LISC’s Bay Area Faith and Housing Program has worked with 22 faith-based organizations to provide one-on-one coaching and training programs related to housing development, as well as offer access to early grants and forgivable loans to get projects off the ground.
Similarly, Enterprise Community Partners has seen success with its Enterprise Faith Based Development Initiative, providing technical assistance, training and capital to 29 faith-based organizations so they can implement plans for thousands of units of locally responsive affordable housing.
“Faith-based organizations tend to have a deep belief in justice and an unwavering commitment to the communities they serve,” said Michael Pugh, LISC president and CEO. “But they don’t necessarily have the capacity to put those values into action when it comes to housing development. This guide helps fill the gap so that local faith leaders can help drive housing solutions that support strong families, healthy seniors, safe streets and growing local economies.”
Learn more about HUD’s Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
About LISC
LISC is one the country’s largest community development organizations, helping forge vibrant, resilient communities across America. We work with residents and partners to close systemic gaps in health, wealth and opportunity and advance racial equity so that people and places can thrive. Since our founding in 1979, LISC has invested $32 billion to create more than 506,000 affordable homes and apartments, develop 82.5 million square feet of retail, community and educational space, and help tens of thousands of people find employment and improve their finances.
