The Opportunity Starts at Home (OSAH) multisector affordable homes campaign has awarded capacity building grants to eight state-based organizations that will be advancing the national campaign’s goals. Each grantee will use the funding to diversify their state’s housing coalition to other sectors, such as health, education, civil rights, food security, climate, faith, anti-poverty, and more. OSAH will leverage their multi-sector partnerships to engage federal elected officials who represent the states to enact policies that correct longstanding racial inequities and expand affordable housing for the nation’s lowest-income people.
The grantees were selected through a competitive proposal process and will be formally recognized as state affiliates of the national campaign. Grantees will be able to gain access to resources, multi-sector networks, and technical assistance from the national campaign. Each applicant demonstrated a strong commitment to advancing federal affordable housing solutions for the lowest income people, amplifying racial equity, and expanding partnerships to different sectors. The grantees are:
- Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
- Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness
- Housing Action Illinois
- Idaho Asset Building Network
- Minnesota Chapter of Opportunity Starts at Home
- NC Child
- Prosperity Indiana
- Texas Homeless Network
“Not only is it critical for Congress to hear from national advocates, but also from their own constituents in the states they represent,” said Mike Koprowski, national director of the Opportunity Starts at Home campaign. “This excellent cohort of grantees will be critical partners in helping the campaign achieve its goals. To be sure, the housing crisis cannot be solved without stronger federal action. And we are more likely to build the necessary political will in Congress when an array of sectors are standing shoulder-to-shoulder demanding solutions, rather than just housing advocates alone.”
In addition to this new cohort of grantees, the campaign has well-established partnerships with Housing California, Maine Together, the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey, the Housing Network of Rhode Island, the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, the Oregon Housing Alliance, and the Utah Housing Coalition.
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