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76 76 76 INVESTMENT GOVERNMENT PROPERTY PRESERVATION Journal FANNIE MAE CHALLENGE PROMOTES RACIAL EQUITY IN HOUSING Fannie Mae has announced the selection of five organizations to receive deliverable-based contracts under the Sustainable Communities Innovation Challenge, a nationwide competi- tion to help advance racial equity in housing. rough the Innovation Challenge 2022 (IC22), the company sought innovative, scalable pro- posals to remove barriers that currently prevent many households, including Black households, from purchasing or renting a home. e Innovation Challenge is part of Fannie Mae's Sustainable Communities Partnership and Innovation initiative, which focuses on de- veloping collaborative, cross-sector approaches to advancing sustainable communities and gen- erating solutions for the nation's most pressing housing issues. Fannie Mae solicited proposals that specifically address the insufficient supply of quality affordable housing options, insufficient funds for upfront and unexpected housing costs, and consumer credit challenges, including low credit scores and credit invisibility. "A history of discriminatory housing policies and practices has created profound inequities in the housing system that persist to this day. e Innovation Challenge is one example of Fannie Mae's commitment to address those inequities and knock down the barriers that consumers, particularly Black consumers, face throughout the housing journey," said Maria Evans, VP of Community Impact, Fannie Mae. "e pro- posals we selected provide thoughtful, tangible, scalable solutions to the most salient housing problems people face in the U.S. We are excited to work with these organizations and to support their innovative projects." IC22 Contract Awardees: • ReBUILD Metro is a Baltimore-based nonprofit that works with community members to revitalize neighborhoods block by block and help prepare Black residents for first-time homeownership. eir Fannie Mae contract supports the Johnston Square: A Blueprint for Baltimore project, which will stabilize, restore, and reoccupy scattered-site abandoned and dilapidated properties; and begin the work to convert long-vacant lots into new units of affordable rental housing, street-level retail, and a four- acre community park; and rehab abandoned properties into mixed-use development and green space. • Southside Community Development & Housing Corporation (SCDHC) is a non-profit housing developer in the Richmond Metro Area. SCDHC creates viable, thriving, and sustainable commu- nities across Central Virginia by providing residential and commercial development, homeownership and financial counseling and coaching, employment services, and supportive programs to low-income families. eir Fannie Mae contract advances their SCDHC Emporia Pathways Project, which includes the construction of affordable housing. e project is part of a three- to five-year construction pipeline that will include rental housing and homeownership opportunities as well as rental and pre-pur- chase counseling, foreclosure prevention services, workforce development training, and a range of financial capability services. • Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity brings people together to create, preserve, and promote affordable homeownership and ad- vance racial equity in housing by connecting families with their communities through neighborhood revitalization projects. eir Fannie Mae contract will support Advanc- ing Homeownership in the Twin Cities, a partnership with the Minnesota Home- ownership Center to create and deploy a down payment assistance product that will help Black households to become home- owners. Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity will engage three Community Development Financial Institutions to administer the program and up to 10 regional mortgage lenders to pair the product with their afford- able mortgages. • e Community Builders is a mis- sion-driven real estate development corporation transforming communities with affordable rentals and properties for pur- chase across the Northeast, Midwest, and Mid-Atlantic regions. eir Fannie Mae contract supports the From Our Doors to Yours project, which will deploy an econom- ic empowerment package to build and repair credit through on-time rental payments. It will leverage affordable rentals in Chicago, Detroit, and Richmond. Onsite community life coaches will connect residents with relevant resources while providing Family Self Sufficiency Services to build savings through earned income. • Module, a prefab housing company based in Pittsburgh, started with the goal of making good home design more accessible and a mission to support customers' health and well-being in well-designed, energy-ef- ficient, highly functional homes that will last 100 years. In partnership with Enter- prise Community Partners, Module will demonstrate the feasibility of locally owned modular construction micro-factories to complete energy-efficient affordable hous- "A history of discriminatory housing policies and practices has created profound inequities in the housing system that persist to this day." —Maria Evans, VP of Community Impact, Fannie Mae