Photo credit: Side x Side Architects
Expanding access to affordable housing is critical to reducing chronic homelessness. But housing alone isn’t always enough to help vulnerable people facing complex challenges such as medical, mental health or substance use issues.
Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) has spent more than 30 years working to expand access to supportive housing: affordable housing that comes with services such as healthcare, workforce development and case management.
“The folks who benefit are people who need affordable housing, but also need services to help them sustain their housing,” said Deborah De Santis, CSH president and CEO. “We think about housing as this platform that allows people to achieve their recovery goals, improve healthcare outcomes and improve educational outcomes for kids.”
Focusing on the most vulnerable
As a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), New York-based CSH provides loan capital and development expertise to catalyze supportive housing projects.
Residents aren’t the only ones who benefit from affordable housing that comes with services for vulnerable groups. Research shows supportive housing improves stability while reducing residents’ reliance on homeless shelters and emergency healthcare, helping offset costs, according to CSH.
Facts like that are part of what drew De Santis to CSH. She first encountered the organization while leading the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency.
“They did such an amazing job of not only making the moral argument for their intervention, but making the business case for it,” she said.
CSH also advocates for policies that help people get housing and services they need and shares its expertise with other organizations.
“The need is so huge, there’s only so much impact we can have alone,” De Santis said. “We take to heart being a learning organization and sharing our learnings so we can grow the field.”
CSH’s impact by the numbers
468K
Homes supported by CSH’s loans, grants, project assistance and advocacy
$1.5B
Loans and grants provided by CSH
48
States where CSH has worked
Impact in action
CSH has multiple strategies for investing in supportive housing, depending on a project’s needs. JPMorgan Chase supports them all.
Ogden Theater
Funding new supportive housing in the Bronx
CSH is helping a new supportive housing project take off in the Bronx, N.Y., with a $5.76 million loan to fund predevelopment and acquisition costs.
The $59 million Ogden Theater project will build 85 units on land previously owned by a church, with 51 supportive housing units reserved for people with severe mental illnesses or substance use disorders. There will also be affordable units for families earning 50% and 70% of the area median income (AMI).
Residents will have an on-site social service suite, recreation room and outdoor recreational area. The church will also continue providing community services on-site. Construction is expected to be complete in 2025.
Ogden Theater is part of CSH’s commitment to increasing the share of its lending to developers with diverse leadership. One developer, Unique People Services, will mentor the other, NCV Capital Partners, an emerging developer.
“We love that kind of partnership, where one organization that has more experience can support another that’s entering the field,” said Brigitt Jandreau, CSH’s chief lending officer.
Since 2019, JPMorgan Chase has helped CSH support more projects like Ogden Theater through a revolving line of credit, currently at $15 million. This gives CSH access to capital to fund more supportive housing projects.
Community-driven healthcare, social services
In addition to loan capital, CSH uses the New Markets Tax Credit Program (NMTC) to finance projects that expand access to services supportive housing residents need, like the White Center Community HUB near Seattle.
The healthcare and social service center, developed by the White Center Community Development Association (WCCDA), will be located next to a new 76-unit affordable and workforce housing building. Plans incorporated community members’ insights into services the neighborhood needs.
When the project is complete in 2025, it will offer:
- Healthcare, including primary, mental and behavioral care
- Afterschool youth programs and family services
- Diverse-owned business and economic development support services
- Food security programs
- Workforce training
CSH used tax credit allocated through NMTC to support the White Center’s development, and JPMorgan Chase provided nearly $10 million in NMTC equity.
“NMTC equity is a great tool for bridging financing gaps, enabling transformative projects like the White Center to progress and thrive,” said Jalen Marable, a banker with JPMorgan Chase’s NMTC team. “What stands out is the remarkable dedication of CSH and the WCCDA in actively engaging with and responding to the community’s needs.”
While CSH’s NMTC investments don’t directly create new supportive housing, they increase service providers’ capacity to make sure people who need help receive it.
“Often when services are expanded, the people who benefit are people who have more ability to access them. We make our investments in a deliberate way to make sure they reach people who have less access,” Jandreau said.
Financing CSH helps the organization invest in more projects like Ogden Theater and the White Center and reach even more people.
“At JPMorgan Chase, we see it as part of our mission to support organizations that are making a difference for people who are less fortunate in every community we operate in,” said Vince Toye, Head of Community Development Banking. “CSH’s work is critical to so many communities, and we want to be part of that.”
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Visit jpmorgan.com/commercial-banking/legal-disclaimer for disclosures and disclaimers related to this content.
