Rural Communities

Nearly 97% of our country's landmass and 20% of its population is rural. While these sparsely populated communities provide America with food, energy, recreation and critical sources like drinking water, they also make up 80% of our persistent poverty. With fewer units at lower rents, higher construction and maintenance costs, and an indirect path to accessing federal programs, developing the affordable housing needed to meet the demand in rural areas is particularly difficult.

We have been working with rural communities to address their unique challenges and meet their need for multifamily, permanent supportive and homeownership housing in rural communities for over 30 years. .

Some of our key programs include:

Technical assistance: Provides targeted training and support to non-profits and Public Housing Authorities in order to maximize the number of units available to low-income residents
Capacity building: Connects partners to our financing tools, including predevelopment and capacity building grants through our Section 4 program.
Rural Rental Preservation Academy: Helps rural housing providers and nonprofits acquire and preserve subsidized affordable housing
Connections to capital resources: Develops innovative tools to help rural developers overcome the significant hurdles they face accessing capital, including Enterprise Community Loan Fund, Equitable Path Forward Growth Fund and the Rural Revolving Loan Fund.
State, local and national policy: Engages and collaborates with elected and civic leaders to improve access to affordable homes in rural areas across the country

RFP Opportunity

HUD Section 4 Capacity Building Grants - RURAL AND TRIBAL NOW AVAILABLE

We help CDCs, CHDOs, Tribes, TDHEs, THAs and Native CDFIs maximize the impact of Section 4 funding. Applications are due 1/31/25. Learn more.

A mother holding her little girl in her arms as they both smile.

A Place to Call Home

Since 1997, our local market team has already helped create or preserve more than 16,000 affordable homes across the region, leveraging more than $950 million in capital. Learn more about the recent communities our team has supported.

A man holds a steel structure in front of a two-story gray apartment building with snow on the road

50-50 background color

Cornerstone Blue

Featured Program

Rural Rental Preservation Academy

The Rural Rental Preservation Academy is a series of no-cost training and peer learning sessions designed to help rural housing providers preserve USDA Rural Development properties.

Over the past five years, we have brought together more than 100  industry experts and 600 participants to preserve affordable housing in their communities.

Funder Spotlight

Fannie Mae

Fannie Mae’s support of the Rural Rental Preservation Academies is helping rural housing providers acquire USDA and HUD financed properties in their communities, as well as building their capacity to keep homes affordable, protected and preserved.