Global Citizenship Report 2017

Innovative Financing Approaches In recent years, as cities have become dynamic and attractive places to live and work, we have seen the rapid gentrifica- tion of urban areas around the country. The commensurate rapid rise in land and property values are threatening to displace low-income communities. An expansion of innovative approaches to affordable housing financing is needed to help circumvent this trend and develop more permanent solutions. Citi Community Development (CCD) is working with several partners to develop community land trusts (CLTs) in rapidly gentrifying cities such as Washington D.C. and New York City. A CLT is a nonprofit organization that buys land to build permanently affordable housing for low-income households. Under this model, the CLT places a cap on resale and rental prices to maintain affordability over the long term, even as property prices in the area escalate. This enables renters to acquire stable, affordable housing while those able to buy can build equity and accrue other benefits of homeownership. In February 2017, CCD partnered with City First Enterprises to plan a CLT for the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington D.C., where median home prices increased by 20 percent in 2016. The Douglas CLT aims to acquire land and build properties to preserve affordability and build wealth for 100 families in the area. Citi provided $450,000 to the trust to support develop- ment of the CLT. CCD is also the founding corporate partner for New York City’s first citywide CLT. The Interboro CLT follows a unique multi-partner structure that includes the Center for NYC Neighborhoods, Habitat for Humanity New York City, MHANY Management Inc., and the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board. By building permanently affordable housing across the city, this project hopes to address the widening economic inequality in one of the world’s most expensive cities. CCD provided $1 million in seed funding for the program in 2017 to launch the Interboro CLT Growth Fund to accelerate the development of the first 250 units and position the CLT to become one of the largest urban land trusts in the nation. A veteran who is being placed into a home as part of the Bring them HOMES initiative HOMES FOR VETERANS An estimated 40,000 veterans are homeless on any night in America . 9 Since 2012, CCD has supported the Bring them HOMES initiative by the National Equity Fund and Local Initiatives Support Corp. to help end veteran homelessness. Over the last several years, this initiative has worked to finance, facilitate, advo- cate and implement affordable housing options for veterans. To date, a total of 3,500 affordable housing units, including 2,500 specifically for veterans, have been completed or are in development. Citi also partners with other organizations working to end the problem of veteran homelessness through tradi- tional financing and investment activity. For example, in 2015, Citi Community Capital provided construction financing totaling $20 million for renovations at the New England Center for Homeless Veterans, a Boston- based nonprofit providing services to veterans at risk of homelessness. The multimillion-dollar renovations, completed in 2017, give homeless veterans around the country better access to improved living accommoda- tions, transitional services, medical help — including critical mental health and addiction services — and vocational programs. 9 “Homeless Veterans: 2016 by the Numbers,” U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (website), accessed January 2018, https://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/accomplishments/2016-by-the-numbers.asp. Citi 2017 Global Citizenship Report 101 CONTENTS    INTRODUCTION    HOW WE DO BUSINESS    SOLUTIONS FOR IMPACT     APPENDICES Environmental Finance    Inclusive and Resilient Communities