Acts Housing has launched a new social enterprise to outcompete predatory investors and increase housing inventory for owner occupancy.
Milwaukee is losing 1,000 homeowners of Color every year, a pace that has persisted over the past decade. Families of low-to-moderate income (LMI) are increasingly rent-burdened and forced to make impossible tradeoffs that limit their ability to experience upward mobility and participate in the American Dream.
“My administration remains focused on increasing affordable opportunities, particularly for racial and ethnic groups historically denied fair access to homeownership,” said Mayor Cavalier Johnson. “The Homeownership Acquisition Fund supports this priority, while at the same time providing a pathway to equity and generational wealth within our community”
The Acts Homeowner Acquisition Fund was formed with the support of the Community Development Alliance (CDA) and is a key strategy of Milwaukee’s Collective Affordable Housing Plan. The Fund’s launch is made possible with a $1 million grant from the Zilber Family Foundation, its largest ever individual gift to support affordable housing.
“With the Foundation’s investment, Acts will take a bold step forward to build a new system to preserve and grow the number of homeowners of Color in Milwaukee.” Said Gina Stilp, Executive Director of the Zilber Family Foundation.
Dorothy York, MBA, VP of Real Estate at Acts Housing, a graduate of Marquette University’s Associates in Commercial Real Estate program (ACRE), will be leading a team of real estate and home rehab professionals that will identify ownership opportunities. Acts’ goal is to create an expanded inventory of homes in the $90,000 to $140,000 range with monthly housing costs of ownership of $900 to $1,200.
The opportunity to build the acquisition fund holds special importance to Dorothy because of her first-hand lived experience.
“My parents lost their first home to foreclosure because they didn’t really know what they were doing, they weren’t prepared,” said York. “I bought my first home at 27. My family found stability and lifelong connections in that house, my son even married the girl next door! I’m committed to helping more people who look like me reap the benefits of homeownership.”
Since our inception, more than 3,000 families have purchased homes with Acts’ support. So far in 2022, more than 170 families have purchased homes. We continue to add staff as we work toward exceeding last year’s homeownership record of 305 families and launching the Acts Homeownership Acquisition Fund.
For more information on the Acts Housing Homeowner Acquisitions Fund read the following articles:
- ACTS Housing is launching an acquisition fund to combat investor landlord purchases in Milwaukee Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, August 2022
- Acts Housing launches fund to help low-income home buyers compete with out-of-state investors, BizTimes Milwaukee, August 2022
- Milwaukee nonprofit raising $11M for fund to boost low-income homeownership, Milwaukee Business Journal, August 2022
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