Barnes Housing Trust Fund - Metro Nashville

In 2013, Mayor Karl Dean and the Metro Council created Metro Nashville's first housing trust fund to leverage affordable housing developments throughout Davidson County. Named after Reverend Bill Barnes, a longstanding advocate for affordable housing and deconcentrating poverty, the Barnes Fund makes competitive grants to nonprofit housing developers to increase affordable housing options for Nashvillians. Grants include funding for preservation and creation of affordable rental and homeowner units and other supportive efforts to encourage long-term affordability. Since its inception, the Barnes Fund has invested more than $92 million in affordable housing development and preservation and has leveraged over $933 million of federal and private funding to construct more than 4000 housing units.