Worcester County faces a severe affordable housing crisis. With skyrocketing rents and limited income-restricted stock, roughly 50% of Worcester County renters are cost-burdened, and homelessness county-wide has reached record highs.

While we do not have the resources to fund the building of housing, we can support partners focused on developing affordable housing projects. We do this by making impact investments in housing to address local affordability crises by creating revolving pools of capital. 

By leveraging both financial returns and social benefits, we can expand housing supply and catalyze neighborhood revitalization without relying solely on traditional grantmaking.

Line of Credit with Worcester Community Housing Resources

Our first affordable housing investment was in partnership with Worcester Community Housing Resources, a nonprofit that creates and preserves affordable housing opportunities for low to moderate income houses throughout the County.

WCHR works with private and public partners to develop home ownership and rental housing in key neighborhood locations, working with property owners, local government, and advocates in developing plans and financing to turn vacant land and underused or abandoned buildings into quality housing.

Through a $1 million low-interest line of credit from the Foundation, we will support early-stage funding of WCHR's affordable housing projects. 

The line of credit has been fully deployed once, supporting 12 affordable housing units across the county. As permanent financing is secured, resources from the credit line will be available to fill funding gaps for future projects.

CDC Housing Predevelopment Loan Fund

Development of affordable housing is an expensive, complicated, and time-demanding endeavor. Our partners at the four community development corporations in the county work tirelessly to launch new projects, keep developing projects moving forward, and complete projects on budget.

Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2026, we will have a $500,000 revolving loan fund for the exclusive use of the CDCs in Worcester County. This will enable them to access predevelopment funds to help get projects up and running faster, and act quickly when unique opportunities emerge.