Affordable Housing Milestone Achieved In Lincoln

LINCOLN–(News Release Dec. 2)–Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird and community partners announced today the expansion of a Lincoln financial institution to leverage millions of dollars for affordable housing. Mayor Gaylor Baird said the expansion is major milestone in achieving the goals of the City of Lincoln Affordable Housing Coordinated Action Plan, which was approved by the City Council in December 2020.

The financial institution, Community Development Resources (CDR), currently provides capital, technical assistance, and training opportunities for small businesses. The expansion of CDR includes:

· the constitution of a new Board of Directors.

· the expansion of the organization’s mission to include affordable housing; and

· a major commitment to raise $10 million in capital.

Raising $10 million in capital will allow CDR lending assets to grow to $50 million. The resources will be used primarily for affordable housing development. Additionally, a special committee of the Board of Directors will be developed to promote housing opportunity and homelessness prevention, among other priorities.

“Today, we take a big step forward to create more financing options and incentives that help our community achieve our affordable housing goals,” said Mayor Gaylor Baird. “I am so pleased to stand with our philanthropic and private sector partners and leaders to announce the expansion of Community Development Resources (CDR). CDR is an existing community development financial institution that will take on ambitious new responsibilities as it grows its small business portfolio and expands its mission to include affordable housing.”

Barbara Bartle, President of the Lincoln Community Foundation, has supported CDR’s efforts. “Promoting housing, where all residents can live in a quality home they can afford, leads to healthier lives and more stable families,” Bartle said. “This has been a community priority for many years. I applaud Mayor Gaylor Baird for her commitment to this issue and for her support of the community financing strategy we are implementing today through the expansion of CDR.”

The City of Lincoln Affordable Housing Coordinated Action Plan identified the development of an affordable housing focused financial institution as a top priority. The Plan highlighted the need to create new affordable housing for those who are “housing cost-burdened,” meaning that they pay 30% or more of their incomes on rent or mortgage payments and utilities. To address this gap and as a result of the Plan’s findings, the Mayor and the City set a goal to create or rehabilitate 5,000 affordable housing units over the next ten years.

“We know from our research Lincoln needs to both create new housing and preserve and improve the quality of our existing housing,” said City Council member Sändra Washington. Grants and loans available through CDR will help our community do just that, especially for low-income and minority renters and home buyers.”

CDR volunteer Mark Hansen thanked the community partners and stakeholders for expanding and growing the mission of the financial institution. “In simple terms, we’ll do this by creating new subsidized funding sources, including philanthropic contributions and federal programs like the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, to serve more people and purposes in our city,” Hansen said. “We’ll also develop a CARE Committee dedicated to ensuring that all voices are heard in the affordable housing conversation and that other strategies, like policy change and homelessness prevention, are incorporated into our vision.”

The Affordable Housing Coordinated Action Plan is available at urban.lincoln.ne.gov.