Reagan's Commission on Housing concluded that future housing
policy should de-emphasize housing production and rehabilitation.
Housing affordability would be the focus of a new program.
Ford
Foundation Programs
After
providing intensive support for a few large
cdcs during the
1970s, the Foundation began to explore whether the
cdc model could be
expanded. With the contraction of federal funds for community
development projects, new financial partners were sought to
diversify cdcs'
funding base. The creation of
lisc was one step in
this direction. Another was Foundation support for a "third
generation" of community organizations, which seemed to have the
potential of becoming important forces for social development
within their communities. To secure a broad financial base for
these "emerging"
cdcs, the Foundation
established partnerships with local foundations, municipal
governments, and the private sector. Since 1984, $18 million in
grants and $10 million in
pris has been
committed to these partnerships and
cdcs.
Without the
deep federal pockets once available for core support, emerging
cdcs,
lisc-supported
cdcs, and other
nonprofit housing developers have become leaner organizations than
their predecessors. At the same time, some of these
cdcs have become
creative housing finance packagers. Community developers of the
1980s have been faced with the challenge of building physical and
financial models that can operate under the economic constraints of
the times and still serve the needs of low-income families.
In
recognition of these shifts in financing and to support the growth
of smaller cdcs, the
Foundation's pri
program provided loans to the Boston Housing Partnership and the
Chicago Equity Fund to demonstrate more efficient ways of
delivering debt and equity financing to small-scale,
community-based housing developers. In these models, local
government