Community Housing Capital (CHC) in Decatur, Georgia, has announced the launch of a $34 million fund in partnership with Arnold Ventures to increase access to affordable housing for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) communities across 12 southern states and Washington, D.C.

The CHC BIPOC Affordable Housing Development Fund includes a $17 million investment from the community development financial institution that will be matched by a $17 million commitment from Arnold Ventures, the venture philanthropy founded by Giving Pledgers Laura and John Arnold. The fund will provide capital and debt financing to minority-led nonprofit housing developers working in communities of color, prioritize the construction of new units for families earning less than 80 percent of area median income, and encourage the preservation of naturally occurring affordable housing.

The lack of housing security and affordability is a direct impediment to building wealth within BIPOC communities where, on average, families have possessed a small fraction of the wealth of the typical white family. In the past decade, the racial wealth gap has been exacerbated by the subprime mortgage crisis in 2008, which wiped out half of Black wealth in the United States, and the COVID-19 pandemic, which disproportionally affected BIPOC communities.

“Too often, executives of color are excluded from funding opportunities or receive higher rates than their white counterparts, due to bias and other systemic challenges,” said CHC president Cindy Holler. “The fund will infuse capital into minority-led organizations working in communities of color that have been denied wealth-building opportunities for far too long.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Jack Hollingsworth)