JPMorgan Chase has announced a five-year, $400 million commitment aimed at improving housing affordability and stability and opening homeownership opportunities for Black and Latinx households.

Part of the firm's $30 billion commitment announced in October 2020 to advance racial equity and drive an inclusive recovery, the funding includes low-cost loans, equity, and grants targeted to nonprofits working to address the housing affordability gap. To that end, Chase will work with the Urban Institute to identify, test, and scale innovative affordable housing solutions and collaborate with the Center for Community Investment at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to address the affordability of existing homes and expand community ownership models in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. In addition, in response to the economic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the firm will assist nonprofits that fund foreclosure and eviction programs, provide liquidity to nonprofit providers that offer affordable housing as well as to landlords facing their own financial strains, and advance housing preservation models to maintain existing affordable units.

In conjunction with the financial commitment, the firm will work to establish new paths to affordable and sustainable homeownership opportunities including product expansion and policy reform, and partner with policy makers and community leaders to advance data- and evidence-based solutions to tackle housing challenges.

"We're trying to address some of the barriers to affordable housing and homeownership to help provide family stability and build generational wealth for Black and Latinx families," said JPMorgan Chase chair and CEO Jamie Dimon. "Whether you rent or own your home, more families deserve fair, sustainable, and accessible options, and businesses have a responsibility to develop housing solutions for those who lack access to opportunity."

(Photo credit; JPMorgan Chase)