Inside Philanthropy: Human Right: Five Funders Backing Housing Justice

Housing injustice is an increasingly pressing problem in the U.S. Between skyrocketing rents, an insufficient amount of housing, income inequality and a legacy of racist housing policies and practices, many Americans struggle with housing insecurity and homelessness. The “American dream,” of which homeownership has long been a central tenet, is now firmly out of reach for many. Renting, which was once seen as a more affordable alternative, is also becoming increasingly unaffordable. 

These factors have fueled the growing housing justice movement. Housing justice centers on the belief that housing is a human right and everyone should have “affordable, safe, accessible [and] stable housing,” as the National Coalition for Housing Justice puts it. 

On the philanthropic side, a number of funders, especially those that work to address the homelessness crisis, have begun funding housing justice work. Although philanthropy cannot solve all the problems plaguing the nation’s housing system, it can support things like policy advocacy, tenants’ rights and protections organizations, narrative change, and actually building more affordable housing, and funders can collaborate with each other to come up with new solutions. 

To that end, here are five funders and funder collaboratives that are working to advance housing justice. This is a nonexhaustive list, but it does illustrate two noteworthy aspects of housing justice funding: the prominence of California-based efforts and a turn toward collaborative and pooled funding approaches in recent years. 

Fund for an Inclusive California

Launched in 2018, the Fund for an Inclusive California is a pooled fund housed at the Common Counsel Foundation that works to address the housing crisis in the Golden State by supporting power-building and community-led organization work. Its supporters include top progressive grantmakers and community foundations in the state, like the Akonadi Foundation, California Community Foundation, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, East Bay Community Foundation, Liberty Hill Foundation, San Francisco Foundation, The California Endowment, the James Irvine Foundation and Weingart Foundation.

Originally planned to last only through 2020, the pandemic prompted organizers to extend the fund’s lifespan. It announced a new round of grants totaling $1.7 million earlier this year as part of its five-year, $25 million second phase. Some of its recent grantees include North Bay Organizing Network, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, Pueblo Unido Community Development Center, InnerCity Struggle, Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance, Housing Now! and Tenants Together. 

In its second phase, the fund is focusing on the Central Valley and the Inland Empire, two areas of California that tend to receive less funding than other parts of the state.