Expanding Access to Quality Housing
Where We Work
We support work throughout the United States at both the local and national levels.
What We Fund
At the national level, we support efforts to rebuild the mortgage finance system with the goal of providing safe and affordable housing finance products for low-income and minority borrowers. We also invest in efforts to upgrade affordable housing through systems that improve the quality and energy efficiency of the homes. This work includes:
- Research and advocacy that informs federal policy around financial system regulation and reform of the housing finance system—particularly the secondary mortgage market
- Research that shows the creditworthiness of low-income and minority borrowers
- Development of national systems that deliver high-quality housing finance services to low-income and minority borrowers through mission-driven lenders, including financing mechanisms to facilitate improved energy efficiency of homes
- Technical assistance for local efforts to supply permanently affordable housing and projects that demonstrate the effectiveness and scalability of such efforts
At the local level, we support programs that deliver, at scale, permanently affordable housing through:
- Shared equity homeownership programs such as community land trusts
- Manufactured housing that is preserved through the conversion of investor-owned communities to resident ownership
- Deed-restricted homes developed through inclusionary zoning ordinances
- And as part of broader mixed-use, mixed-income, transit-oriented developments that provide easy access to public transportation systems
Additional Selection Criteria
We do not make grants for homeownership education and counseling.
Status of Grant Making
The budget for fiscal year 2012 (October 2011 to September 2012) has already been committed, and we are not accepting unsolicited proposals at this time.
To Apply for a Grant
Follow these steps:
- Review the Initiatives most relevant to your work.
- Read our Grant Application Guide, which describes our grant-making process.
- If you determine that your work aligns with our priorities, submit a Grant Inquiry. (While we welcome submissions, please keep in mind that our funds are limited in relation to the large number of worthwhile inquiries we receive. In a typical year, less than 1 percent of unsolicited inquiries result in a grant.)
Please Note:
It is important that you use our grant inquiry form—and refrain from contacting program officers directly. Given the volume of inquiries we receive, this allows us to log, track and respond quickly to your application.
Fellowships
The vast majority of foundation grants go to organizations. We provide a very limited number of fellowship opportunities for individuals through the Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowships Program, which aims to diversify the faculties of American colleges and universities.
The foundation does not have any other active fellowship opportunities at this time.
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