NCST

Location: Nationwide

Website: stablecommunities.org/ncst

The U.S. housing market remains extremely uneven. While some areas have rebounded significantly from the recession and have a robust housing market, others – especially communities of color, lower-income areas, and cities where economic activity remains depressed – continue to grapple with high rates of vacant, abandoned and distressed properties that weaken nearby home values, create health and safety risks, lower local tax revenues, and thwart neighborhood revitalization efforts.

The National Community Stabilization Trust (NCST) is a non-profit organization that works to restore vacant and abandoned properties to productive use and protect neighborhoods from blight. Our programs facilitate the rehabilitation of vacant but structurally sound homes, enable safe, targeted demolition when necessary, and support creative and productive re-use of vacant land.

Established in 2008 by the sponsors listed to the left, NCST offers a unique blend of policy expertise and on-the-ground experience working with local partners to eliminate the blight caused by vacant and foreclosed properties and severely delinquent mortgages in distressed communities.

NCST supports neighborhoods and fights blight through these key activities:

Provide community-based buyers an opportunity to acquire vacant, abandoned and distressed properties as part of a neighborhood revitalization strategy. Our First Look REO acquisition program gives local affordable housing and community development organizations the opportunity to obtain properties in their market areas before they are marketed more broadly. In many cases, REO properties can be acquired at discounts that help make it financially feasible for nonprofit buyers to rehabilitate these properties for new occupants.

Partner with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in their Neighborhood Stabilization Initiative.

This partnership offers Fannie and Freddie REO properties to local affordable housing and community development organizations through a special First Look program in 18 strategic markets around the country, mostly east of the Mississippi river.

In collaboration with the Housing Partnership Network (HPN), NCST manages a portfolio of highly distressed mortgages to resolve delinquencies, assist homeowners, and prepare vacant properties for productive disposition. Financial institutions donate these mortgages to NCST and HPN to assist with asset resolution.

Along with many national and local partners, including our six sponsors, we research solutions and advocate for policies to help communities address blight and high rates of vacant, abandoned, and distressed properties.

Offer financing to support local housing work.

Our REO Capital Fund aggregates capital from philanthropic and social investment sources to provide flexible financing for local organizations to acquire and rehabilitate single family homes.

Opportunity Finance Network

Location: Nationwide

Website: www.opportunityfinance.net

Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) is a national network of community development financial institutions (CDFIs) investing in opportunities that benefit low-income, low-wealth, and other disadvantaged communities across America.

OFN Members are performance-oriented, responsible investors that finance community businesses, sparking job growth in the areas that need it most, and delivering both sound financial returns and real changes for people and communities.

Our Network has originated more than $23.2 billion in financing in urban, rural, and Native communities through 2009. With cumulative net charge-off rates of less than 1.4%, we have demonstrated our ability to lend prudently and productively in unconventional markets often overlooked by conventional financial institutions.

Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) are private financial institutions that are 100 percent dedicated to delivering responsible, affordable lending to help low-income, low-wealth, and other disadvantaged people and communities join the economic mainstream.

By financing community businesses—including small businesses, microenterprises, nonprofit organizations, commercial real estate, and affordable housing—they spark job growth and retention in hard-to serve markets across the nation.

CDFIs are profitable but not profit maximizing. They put community first, not the shareholder. They have had great success over the past 30 years, and have a proven track record of making an impact in those areas of America that need it most.

OFN’s mission through 2025 is to lead CDFIs and their partners to ensure that low-income, low-wealth, and other disadvantaged people and communities have access to affordable, responsible financial products and services.

OFN pursues its mission across five key program areas:

Financing: facilitating high-volume, CDFI-based financing systems;

Public Policy: bringing new public and private resources to the CDFI industry;

Knowledge Sharing: transforming the CDFI field with training, research, and analysis for CDFIs, funders, investors, and other key stakeholders;

Strategic Consulting: helping organizations develop the necessary systems to increase growth and performance; and

Strategic Communications: raising the profile of CDFIs and creating a broad base of support for CDFIs and the people and communities they serve.

We are proud of our Network’s record of success:

More than 180 Members strong

$23.2 billion invested through FY 2009, financing:

60,261 businesses

635,528 housing units

6,465 community facility projects

$7.4 billion in total assets

Low-risk, with a net charge-off rate of 1.6% in FY 2009

At work in urban, rural, and Native communities in all 50 states.