The national housing shortage continues to make headlines. Estimates on the number of homes needed to close the gap run in the millions. But one thing is clear: without a stable, affordable place to call home, it’s impossible to thrive.
In an effort to scale needed housing solutions, Enterprise and the Wells Fargo Foundation have teamed up to launch a new $20 million competition. The Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge will identify and propel implementation-ready innovations that transform current practices and reimagine access to affordable homes.
Eligible applicants are competing for individual grants of $1 million, $2 million and $3 million to scale ideas that lay the groundwork for system-wide change. Winners also will receive two years of technical assistance to turn their ideas into real-world programs.
Round 1 of the challenge is now closed.
We received over 400 innovation proposals.
Round 2 finalists will be announced in early May.
The Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge aims to meet the nation’s affordable housing challenges across Native, rural, suburban, Tribal and urban communities.
The Round 1 application period closed on March 3, 2023. We asked Round 1 applicants to align their proposals with one or more of three focus areas:
Financing
Construction
Access and Resident Support
Innovations across all three focus areas must demonstrate how they center racial equity and, where applicable, integrate environmental sustainability.
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Wells Fargo’s support of the 2023 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge is another opportunity to engage entrepreneurs and social innovators and advance ideas that can improve housing opportunities for millions.
We urgently need to reimagine access to quality affordable places to live in the U.S., which is so tightly linked to economic stability, physical and mental health, and ultimately generational wealth.
– Otis Rolley, President of Wells Fargo Foundation and Head of Philanthropy and Community Impact
Eligibility
We cast a wide net, inviting a range of organizations to apply:
Organizations with a 501(c)(3) status
Mission-oriented for-profits
Government-affiliated organizations, housing authorities and housing finance agencies with a 501(c)(3) entity
The Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge has proven that investing in pathbreaking innovations at the local level is a powerful way to build more equity and affordability in our communities nationwide.
Through a three-round competition, winning innovations will be selected by a panel of judges, including leaders from Enterprise, Wells Fargo, and nationally recognized community development and housing experts.
The cohort of winners will be announced in fall 2023 and take part in a multi-year initiative to share ideas and cultivate their innovations into solutions that can be applied in communities across the U.S.
Round 2
May 9 - June 6
(Finalists announced in early May)
Round 3
August 7 - September 1
Pitch Competition
October 9 - 11
Winners Announced
Week of October 23
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Celebrating Housing Innovations
Launched in 2020, the inaugural Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge named six winners whose innovations have made an impact in communities across the United States. The winners and their housing solutions are currently on display in “A Better Way Home,” a free exhibition at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.
Winners of the 2020 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge are moving forward in exciting ways: breaking ground, setting down homes, and scaling to new geographies. See the breadth, reach and impact of their ideas – and how an engaged cohort made a pivotal difference for these housing innovators.
The support, encouragement and expectations allowed us to develop something very innovative in a short period of time.
Natasha Pallan, Center for NYC Neighborhoods, 2020 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge Winner
The challenge will award at least one breakthrough idea in each of the three focus areas. There are no defined number of awards or grant amounts.
Funds may not be used to support lobbying activities.
The competitive application process launched on January 31, 2023, with a first-round Request for Proposals (RFP). Round 1 applications were due March 3, 2023. Round 2 finalists will be announced in early May and receive an invitation to complete a second application. A team from Wells Fargo representing multiple lines of business will review Round 2 applications and select Round 3 finalists, who will be announced in early August. Round 3 applicants will participate in a pitch event where a panel of judges, including leaders from Enterprise, Wells Fargo, and nationally recognized housing and community development experts, will determine the winners of the 2023 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge.
A team comprised of leaders from Enterprise will review and score Round 1 applications, and leaders from Wells Fargo will review and score Round 2 applications. Round 3 will feature a pitch competition judged by a panel of national housing and community development experts, including Enterprise and Wells Fargo leaders.
The challenge is following HUD’s definition of a rural area: a place having fewer than 2,500 inhabitants; a county or parish with an urban population of 20,000 inhabitants or less; any place with a population not in excess of 20,000 inhabitants and not located in a Metropolitan Statistical Area.
We invited a range of organizations to apply, including nonprofits, Tribal organizations, and mission-driven for-profit entities. Applicants were asked to show how their ideas would be implemented in at least one of 38 markets where Wells Fargo and Enterprise can provide additional infrastructure to support implementation and help scale the winning innovations. While each innovation may initially be implemented in a specific jurisdiction or geography, the expectation is that the innovation demonstrates broad applicability and has the potential to replicate in other communities across the United States.
