grants have been provided by foundations. The largest portion was used for construction, rehabilitation, or subsidy of low-cost housing for low-income households. Table 7 details the major types of housing grants.

The foundations most active in granting funds for housing are Ford, San Francisco, William Penn, Pew Memorial Trust, and the Boston Foundation. The Gannett and Public Welfare foundations give a large number of housing grants but in smaller amounts. The Ford Foundation and the San Francisco Foundation are by far the most consistent contributors, having given more than $21.5 million and $14 million, respectively, from 1980 to 1988. In addition, Ford Foundation Program-Related Investments (pri) on behalf of housing projects have totaled more than $40 million since 1980, and in 1983 the McKnight Foundation committed a $10 million pri as well as grant funds to set up a capital pool to finance mortgages for low-income families.

The history of housing policy and foundation support for housing can be broken into five periods: the 1890s through the 1930s, distinguished by overwhelming concern about public health and poor physical conditions, as noted in Chapter 1; the 1930s through the 1950s, when production-oriented programs started and public housing projects dominated the scene; the 1960s, when deep, targeted subsidies for the poor were introduced and low-income housing production was turned over to private developers; the 1970s, with a moratorium on production and a shift to income-based programs; and the 1980s, when there was an overall retrenchment of federal involvement. It was in the 1960s that this history intersected with the Ford Foundation's work.