Washington Housing Conservancy is awarded a $1 million grant through the TD Ready Challenge
A 2023 TD Ready Challenge grant was awarded to Washington Housing Conservancy for their solution that helps address systemic barriers to affordable and stable housing and helps increase access for those who need it most.
March 5, 2024 – The Washington Housing Conservancy (WHC) has received one of the 10 grants available under the 2023 TD Ready Challenge presented by TD Bank Group (TD).
The non-profit, WHC, will receive $1 million to advance its mission to reinvent the housing system into a more equitable pathway to opportunity for all and provide a blueprint to addressing housing affordability challenges in other cities. WHC was launched five years ago to test whether a private funding mechanism could be used to compete with for-profit developers, to acquire rental properties at speed, and keep them affordable for families at risk of being priced out of economically thriving neighborhoods. Since its launch, WHC has served 2,793 residents by acquiring five properties in the path of development that threatens displacement.
Quality housing that is affordable and located in neighborhoods with low crime, high-performing schools, access to healthy foods, proximity to centers of employment, and abundant green space can promote upward mobility. For many moderate- and low-income families and individuals, especially African Americans and other people of color, the prospect of renting homes in these “high opportunity” neighborhoods is out of reach – these are the residents of the Washington, D.C., region that the grant will further empower WHC to serve and assist.
“The honor of a TD Ready Challenge grant lets us expand our work to help prevent displacement, and increase the affordable housing supply, and work to relieve the rent burdens that make it so difficult for low- and moderate-income Americans to save and build wealth for their future. We’re thrilled that this grant will also help us bring our innovative financial and social impact model to more cities facing the same challenges,” said WHC Executive Director Kimberly Driggins.
“There is an urgent need for affordable housing in the D.C. area and we are honored to work alongside the Washington Housing Conservancy, one of our TD Ready Challenge recipients, to help create affordable housing solutions for our community,” said Hugh Allen, Head of U.S. Commercial Real Estate and Regional President, Mid-South Metro, TD Bank. “Through the TD Ready Challenge, we can help organizations to fulfill their missions in a way that can lead to sustainable economic stability for all. The Washington Housing Conservancy is doing critical work addressing the threat of housing displacement in the region by acquiring rental properties and keeping them affordable for families at risk.”
The TD Ready Challenge is part of the Bank’s longstanding commitment to help support organizations that are working to create a more inclusive and sustainable future. Each year, the TD Ready Challenge invites eligible organizations to submit applications that offer solutions to a problem statement that is connected to one or more of the four drivers of the TD Ready Commitment: Financial Security, Vibrant Planet, Connected Communities and Better Health. In previous years, the TD Ready Challenge problem statement has focused on helping to drive more equitable health outcomes, address income stability, and address pandemic-related learning loss.
In total, TD awarded 10 grants of $1 million each (in CDN for Canadian organizations or USD for US organizations) as part of the 2023 TD Ready Challenge, to organizations like Washington Housing Conservancy that are focused on preventing displacement and promoting economic mobility through increasing the supply of affordable housing.
A full list of TD Ready Challenge grant recipients as well as more information about the program can be found at: www.td.com/thereadychallenge.
WHC’s Housing + Mobility + Equity Accelerator (HMEA) makes it possible to increase the supply of affordable rental homes for residents at greatest risk of being displaced from economically thriving neighborhoods. The TD Ready Challenge grant will enable WHC to accelerate its work in creating and preserving affordable workforce housing, as well as launch a Housing + Mobility Lab which will bring together a national network of peer cities and stakeholders, who can learn more about the WHC model and adapt it to their own unique environment. The Housing + Mobility Lab will also focus on advancing economic mobility strategies for moderate to low-income people.
About Washington Housing Conservancy
Washington Housing Conservancy (WHC) is a nonprofit organization (501c3) that disrupts housing market forces to prevent displacement and promote opportunity for moderate- and low-income Washington-area residents. We fuse a social impact mission with private-sector real estate capital and expertise to preserve housing that is affordable and generates the kind of stability that lets residents experience the opportunity to grow and prosper. By acquiring and preserving mixed-income properties for essential moderate- and low-income workers—such as teachers, first responders, grocery clerks and hospitality workers and their families—we challenge the cycles of displacement that entrench barriers to diversity and inclusivity and help residents focus on their future, instead of the uncertainty of escalating rents.
About The TD Ready Commitment
TD has a long-standing commitment to enriching the lives of its customers, colleagues and communities. As part of its corporate citizenship platform, the TD Ready Commitment, TD is targeting CDN $1 billion (U.S. $775 million) in total by 2030 towards community giving in four areas critical to help open doors for a more inclusive and sustainable tomorrow – Financial Security, Vibrant Planet, Connected Communities and Better Health. Through the TD Ready Commitment, TD aspires to link its business, philanthropy and human capital to help people feel more confident – not just about their finances, but also in their ability to achieve their personal goals in a changing world. For further information, visit td.com/tdreadycommitment.
Preserving housing affordability and promoting economic mobility in the DC-region
The Washington Housing Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Your investment helps us expand our work. Your gift is 100% tax-deductible. EIN 83-1866109
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