Leadership

SCAFFOLD: Supporting Affordable Housing Efforts

Hamilton Community Foundation has a commitment to affordable housing that brings together its resources based on research, consultation and the advice of policy experts to work toward addressing this urgent need. We’re calling this strategy SCAFFOLD: Supporting Affordable Housing Efforts, because just as scaffolding delivers the right support at the right time in a construction project, SCAFFOLD guides HCF’s decisions on:

 SCAFFOLD connects “people, ideas and resources” through all aspects of our work, and includes a 10-year, $50 million impact investment commitment.

Over the past year, HCF has also worked to develop a new credit instrument that would act as a lower-interest alternative to conventional lines of credit offered by financial institutions. A recently-approved pilot will provide $5 million in loans to Hamilton East Kiwanis NonProfit Homes Inc., a long-standing, local affordable housing developer, giving them flexibility and assurance of cash flow to support ambitious affordable housing goals. As of March 31, 2024, HCF has over $12.5 million invested in the affordable housing sector and committed another $3.6 million. In addition, $8.0 million in housing investments have been repaid to HCF in the last nine years and recycled back to the community. Other developments over the past year include: • A loan to develop a local Indigenous-led supportive housing program. • An impact investment in London, Ontario’s largest affordable housing development. • Grants to support eviction prevention programs at nine Hamilton charities. In total, HCF has invested $20.5 million in affordable housing support since its impact investing program was launched. Current commitments will raise that to $24.1 million focused on this critical community issue.

A history of commitment to affordable housing

Just as there is no one person, sector, organization, or level of government that can solve the current crisis in affordable housing, there is also no single solution to this systemic problem. That is why HCF supports initiatives across the housing continuum from supportive housing to affordable home ownership.

Over the past ten years HCF has been on a path to support the affordable housing eco-system. It started in 2015 with a mortgage to Indwell, a local affordable housing provider, that helped finance the development of 47 units of supportive housing on a former used car lot on Main Street East.

Our work since 2015 has included:

We continue to develop our comprehensive affordable housing strategy with a goal of more than doubling our work to date to the $50 million target. There is much to be done in this urgent community and national issue and we continue to focus on bringing people, ideas, and resources to bear in our role as a community foundation.

Guided by research

HCF has been guided by research and expertise in developing our affordable housing strategy. You can access some of these resources here.