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Investing $1M in Attainable Housing

[Photo credit: Tom Rumble / Unsplash | Image description: A birds-eye view of a neighborhood with a variety of house roof colors, including red, brown, white, and gray. There are four roads with some trees lined along it.]

The Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation has invested $1 million from its endowment portfolio in IFF’s Michigan Housing Fund, which will support attainable housing projects in our region.

“We’re proud to have IFF as our new CDFI partner as they will be deploying the Community Foundation’s capital in our five-county service area, providing loans to developers of low-income and workforce housing at below-market rates,” said David Mengebier, President & CEO of the Community Foundation. “Together with IFF, we will be supporting solutions that will help alleviate the local housing crisis and keep more local families here in our region.”

IFF joins Venture North Funding & Development and Northern Initiatives as the Community Foundation’s community development financial institution (CDFI) partners in helping to implement the Foundation’s impact investing strategy. This board-approved strategy designated $2 million from the Foundation’s endowment portfolio to be used for impact investing initiatives in Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, and Leelanau Counties that align with the Northwest Michigan Community Development Coalition’s economic, societal, and environmental goals.

Between 2022 to 2023, the Foundation invested its first $1 million, with $500,000 invested at Venture North and $500,000 invested at Northern Initiatives respectively. Since then, the Community Foundation’s investments have supported a variety of local businesses, including Michigan Farm Cooperative, TC Golf Carts, TNT Electric, Bos Wine, NoBo Mrkt, and AltaTerra Cartographic, among others.

“Our impact investing strategy is meant to help us make an impact beyond our regular grantmaking,” said David Mengebier, President & CEO of the Community Foundation. “With our CDFI partners, our funds can go further in supporting our region.”