$20 Million National Grant Competition

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: we all need an affordable home to thrive.

In an effort to scale needed housing solutions, Enterprise and the Wells Fargo Foundation launched a new $20 million competition in January 2023. The Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge will identify and propel implementation-ready innovations that transform current practices and reimagine access to affordable homes.

Congratulations finalists!
Sixteen finalists advance to the third
and final round featuring a live pitch competition.

Meet the Finalists

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.

A crew of workers on a job site. A worker reaches out for a piece of lumber another worker is holding

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Cornerstone Blue

Focus Areas

The Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge is designed to elevate and scale affordable housing solutions across Native, rural, suburban, Tribal and urban communities.

This spring nearly 430 applicants submitted housing innovations aligned with one or more of three focus areas:

Financing
Construction
Access and Resident Support

We also asked innovators to demonstrate how their transformative housing solution centers racial equity and, where applicable, integrates environmental sustainability.

Meet the Finalists

Otis Rolley, President of Wells Fargo Foundation and Head of Philanthropy and Community Impact, standing and speaking at a podium

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
Tribally Designated Housing Entities (TDHEs)
Tribal Housing Authorities

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.

Jacqueline Waggoner, President, Solutions Division, Enterprise

A prefabricated room being built and lifted inside a warehouse

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Community Green

Application Process

Over the course of the 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.

Competition Timeline

Round 1 (closed)
January 31 - March 3

Round 2 (closed)
May 9 - June 6
Meet the
semi-finalists

Round 3
Mid-August - October 18
(Pitch competition: October 16-18)
Meet the finalists

Winners Announced
Mid-November

A man standing in between the walls of an exhibit reading the content

Housing Innovations Exhibit

“A Better Way Home” celebrates our inaugural winners of the Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge through a dynamic exhibit at the National Building Museum on view through October 16. Since opening in fall 2022, the exhibit has drawn over 17,000 visitors to explore what Fast Company called “six winning programs, each a replicable idea that can make more and better affordable housing.”

A woman talks to a group of people sitting around a table

See how we invest in solutions

Watch Video

Seeding Innovation

A Look at the First Challenge

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

Frequently Asked Questions

All FAQS

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 will consider proposals whose innovation serves a majority (greater than 51%) of residents at these income levels:

Rental: 80% AMI or below
Homeownership: 120% AMI or below

The grant period will be for three years, from November 2023 through October 2026.

Up to 50% of the grant will be disbursed after the grant agreement is executed in 2023. The remaining funds will be disbursed halfway through the grant period in 2025.