CENTER FOR COMMUNITY CHANGE
We support the Center for Community Change's work to attain social and economic justice for low-income people. Our overall homelessness funding strategy has focused on increasing the supply of affordable housing. The Housing Trust Fund Project provides intensive technical assistance to some twenty-five housing trust funds campaigns each year and works with at least another twenty-five as they develop their campaigns or implement their housing trust funds. Housing Trust Funds across the country support hundreds of thousands of affordable homes for the homeless to the working poor each year. For each dollar that a housing trust fund invests in affordable housing, on average, another $7.00-$10.00 are leveraged from other public and private resources. During 2009-2010, the work of the Housing Trust Fund Project added at least $163.2 million in revenues to housing trust funds and fourteen new housing/homeless trust funds were created during this period. The Housing Trust Fund Project is exploring ways to highlight new models for homeless trust funds so that these can be replicated throughout the country.
PICO NATIONAL NETWORK
PICO is the largest national network of faith-based community organizations working to develop leaders who create innovative solutions to problems facing urban, suburban, and rural communities. For more than three decades, PICO has been working at the local, state and federal levels to expand housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income families. The Butler Family Fund has supported PICO's National Campaign to Keep Families in their Homes and Hold Banks Accountable. Partnering with neighborhood-based and worker organizations, PICO successfully advocated for the creation of a robust federal foreclosure prevention program and to improve the loan modification program to help unemployed homeowners stay in their homes. PICO also successfully pushed for the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency to shield consumers from predatory banking practices.
CHICAGO ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS
The Butler Family Fund was an early funder of the Chicago Alliance to support their work to create lasting change to Chicago's homeless system. The Chicago Alliance brings best practices, system coordination and evaluation to Chicago's Plan to End Homelessness; manages major state and federal grants for homelessness, including over $45 million in federal money and $3.3 million in state homelessness prevention funds; advances policies to end homelessness; and increases public awareness and support for ending homelessness. In 2009, the Chicago Alliance brought major focus to leading efforts to organize the response of city government, neighboring communities and homeless service providers to take advantage of The Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing program (HPRP).
TEXAS LOW INCOME HOUSING INFORMATION SERVICE
In Texas, our support helped the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service (TxLIHIS) leverage broader public support for housing and triple state funding for affordable housing. By bringing together people from every side of the housing issue through the coalition it staffs, Housing Texas, and organizing around increasing resources for much-needed affordable homes, funding for the Texas Housing Trust Fund increased by $10 million. This brings total funding to $21.9 million over the two-year biennium (up from $7 million). Depending on how these funds are used, it could help over 300 poor families build homes they can afford.
CORPORATION FOR SUPPORTIVE HOUSING
We support the policy and advocacy efforts of the Corporation of Supportive Housing (CSH). CSH is a national non-profit and community development financial institution that helps communities create permanent housing connected to supportive services to prevent and end homelessness. CSH has led a coalition of advocates, providers and thought-leaders to encourage policymakers to dedicate more resources towards permanent solutions for ending homelessness, including permanent supportive housing. CSH's leadership has led to the federal government increasing its investment in homeless programs by more than $1 billion and adding approximately 70,000 permanent housing beds in the last 10 years.
PHILADELPHIA ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONS
We supported the nonprofit developers in Philadelphia in their successful efforts to spearhead the passage of the Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund. Since September 2005, the Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund has raised over $57 million to expand housing opportunities for more than 4,000 families and individuals through the development of new affordable homes, repair of existing homes and assisting families to stay in their homes avoiding foreclosure and homelessness. Our two grants totaling $45,000 supported the housing trust fund campaign, and our grant of $20,000 contributed to advocacy efforts around effective implementation of the trust fund.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF NON-PROFIT HOUSING
In 1999, we were the first national funder to help launch "Housing LA", a campaign to create an affordable housing trust fund. A housing trust fund is dedicated public revenue for affordable/low income housing. SCANPH used our $20,000 grant to attract additional grant dollars, citing us as a national funder willing to take a risk. In 2002, Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn signed a $100 million annual housing trust into law, making it the largest municipal fund of its kind. To date, SCANPH estimates that over 3,200 new affordable housing units have been built through this fund.
MICHIGAN ORGANIZING PROJECT
In 2006, Kalamazoo County implemented the Low Income Housing Assistance Fund totaling $1.5 million, the result of MOP's three years of work in coalition. Butler provided grants for advocacy. In 2009, we again supported MOP as they undertook to build a broad coalition to support a campaign for permanent funding of the trust fund.