Dogwood Health Trust’s inaugural investment of $40 Million will jumpstart the fund, fueling affordable housing projects in the region.
Asheville, N.C. – In a significant move to address the lack of affordable housing options in Western North Carolina, Dogwood Health Trust provided an inaugural investment of $40 million to Self-Help Ventures Fund to launch the WNC Affordable Housing Loan Fund. Loans from the newly created fund will be made to nonprofit and for-profit developers with affordable housing projects (including both preservation and new construction) with a focus on serving households earning 80 percent or less of area median income.
“Finding solutions for affordable and safe housing has been a significant priority for Dogwood since our inception, because it is so essential for people’s health and wellbeing,” notes Dr. Susan Mims, CEO of Dogwood Health Trust. “In our first five years, we’ve invested more than $83 million in housing efforts and we’ve learned that this work takes collaborative and strategic partners that can leverage our philanthropic resources even further. Creating the WNC Affordable Housing Loan Fund with Self-Help continues our support of local housing developers and will help us attract capital from additional resources.”
Self-Help Ventures Fund, a nonprofit CDFI loan fund and sister organization to Self-Help Credit Union operating across the region, is targeting $10 million of the $40 million investment for short-term bridge financing (less than five years) and the remaining $30 million to support long term project gap financing (15-year subordinate debt). This inaugural investment from Dogwood is expected to leverage an estimated $150 million from other sources and create or preserve a projected 1,000 units of affordable housing in the region. Self-Help has a proven model for this work with similar efforts underway in North Carolina, with active loan funds in Durham, Greensboro, and Wake County and other funds in development.
“The need for this sort of creative partnership has rapidly accelerated in the wake of Hurricane Helene,” said Martin Eakes, Self-Help CEO. “We are grateful for Dogwood Health Trust’s leadership as we work to preserve, create and rebuild affordable housing across the region together.
The need for affordable housing before Hurricane Helene has been well-documented. Dogwood’s comprehensive 2021 Housing Needs Assessment of Western North Carolina articulated the need to preserve and construct affordable housing stock among the 18 counties of Western North Carolina and the Qualla Boundary. The report found that the region would likely need nearly 13,500 more units of affordable rental housing and just over 3,000 more units of affordable for-sale housing by 2025 to satisfy the region’s growing demand.
Add to those projections the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, and the needs become more urgent and more prevalent than any one entity can address. The NC Office of State Budget and Management provided a revised Damage and Needs Assessment in December 20241, noting an estimated need of $15.4 billion for housing assistance and recovery and an estimated 73,700 homes with sustained damage as a result of Hurricane Helene.
“With this investment, we’re clearly just scratching the surface in terms of addressing the ever present – and now growing – need for sustainable affordable housing options in our region,” added Mims. “The WNC Affordable Housing Loan Fund will be a primary way Dogwood supports housing efforts going forward, but we’ll continue to invest in other strategic projects as we are able.”
“At Mountain Housing Opportunities, we are particularly eager to put this new resource to work in rural communities that have traditionally lacked the housing investment programs necessary to maximize the impact of the low-income housing tax credit program,” said Geoffrey Barton, president and CEO, Mountain Housing Opportunities. “The availability of Self-Help loans that are compatible with existing affordable housing resources will make a tremendous difference in our goal to serve a broader region.”
With a 34-year presence in Western North Carolina, the Self-Help family of organizations includes seven credit union branches, 20,000 members and 46 staff in the region. Member deposits are reinvested in loans to individuals, businesses and nonprofits that may not otherwise have access to capital. Since first opening in WNC in 1990, Self-Help has loaned more than $320 million, including two affordable housing projects and 40 community facilities in the region.
To learn more about the WNC Affordable Housing Loan Fund, visit this link (https://community.sh/3QvKXhg). Developers interested in applying for loans should contact the Self-Help Ventures Fund lending team at [email protected].
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1 https://www.osbm.nc.gov/hurricane-helene-dna/open
About Dogwood Health Trust
Dogwood Health Trust is a private foundation based in Asheville, North Carolina with the sole purpose of dramatically improving the health and wellbeing of all people and communities in the Qualla Boundary and the 18 counties of Western North Carolina. Dogwood Health Trust focuses on innovative and equitable ways to address the many factors that contribute to overall health and wellbeing, with a focus on housing, education, economic opportunity, and health and wellness. Dogwood Health Trust works to create a Western North Carolina where every generation can live, learn, earn and thrive, with dignity and opportunity for all, no exceptions. To learn more, please visit www.dht.org.
About Self-Help
The Self-Help Ventures Fund is a nonprofit 501c (3) loan fund that is a part of the nonprofit Center for Community Self-Help, a family of nonprofit organizations with the collective mission to create and protect ownership and economic opportunity for all. The Ventures fund manages Self-Help’s higher-risk business loans, real estate development and home loan secondary market programs. For over 40 years, the national Center for Community Self-Help and its affiliates have provided more than $11 billion in financing to help more than 168,000 borrowers buy homes, start and grow businesses and strengthen community resources. For more information, please visit www.self-help.org
