Community Foundation Executive Director Diane Brown was joined Wednesday by County Executive Jason Garnar to announce the first round of awardees from the Broome County Housing Trust Fund.
The Broome County Housing Trust Fund was launched in December 2021 with grant funding through the Attorney General’s Office and Enterprise Community Partners Anti-Displacement Learning Network. Broome County has partnered with the Community Foundation to hold and manage the fund. The fund’s purpose is building a stronger housing environment by preventing discrimination, developing new affordable housing, improving current housing quality, and other activities preventing displacement. The first round of funding was open to all projects.
“Quality, affordable housing continues to be a need in our community which means it continues to be a priority for Broome County. The grants awarded through this Housing Trust Fund will help make needed improvements to affordable units as well as provide important resources to tenants to ensure they can find housing and remain in their homes. I appreciate the work of our Department of Planning on this initiative and the partnership with the Community Foundation.” Broome County Executive Jason Garnar
“We are pleased and excited to be a member of this important partnership addressing housing concerns in Broome County. Our mission is to improve the quality of life in the region through responsible grant making and philanthropy, and housing is a critical issue needing significant support and increased resources.” Diane Brown, Executive Director, Community Foundation for South Central New York
From the first round of funding, the Community Foundation is proud to announce the following awardees:
- CNY Fair Housing awarded $30,000 to expand fair housing services in Broome, including fair housing complaint intake and investigation, undercover testing, and education services.
- Southern Door Community Land Trust awarded $100,000 for their Energy Burden Reduction Program to retrofit current and future permanently affordable housing units in their portfolio with green energy systems, including new large appliances.
- Public Policy and Education Fund awarded $60,000 to support tenant organizing and direct outreach.
