The Affordable Housing Endowment Fund
The Catholic Foundation of Central Florida is committed to addressing our region’s affordable housing crisis. We believe in providing affordable housing so all of our neighbors have the opportunity to live in a safe and dignified home. Studies have shown that leaving individuals on the street is more expensive to the community than providing affordable housing. Additionally, we believe housing is healthcare, well maintained housing improves wellness, thus reducing medical care costs and allowing our neighbors to not miss work and the children to not miss school. We all are impacted by the neighbors who are unable to find housing within their budget.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition reports that a family in Central Florida needs to work 108 hours at minimum wage to afford a simple two-bedroom rental unit. Extremely low income renters are households with incomes at or below the federal poverty guidelines, under which a four-person household would have to earn at or below $25,750. Almost a majority (48%) of these renters are seniors or disabled. Through a donor’s generosity, we have established The Affordable Housing Endowment Fund which will address one of the largest challenges for any community in developing and maintaining affordable housing – the pre-development and operational maintenance needs for affordable housing properties. Funds from this endowment will provide support for these expenses to expedite the process of developing affordable housing units and provide for the maintenance of these units – allowing our community to increase the number of affordable housing units. Funds will support Catholic Charities of Central Florida and its partners in their efforts to increase affordable housing units in Central Florida.