NCRC Awards $1.34 Million in Field Empowerment Fund – Housing Counseling Services Grants to 59 NCRC Member Organizations

The National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) will grant $1.34 million to 59 HUD-approved housing counseling agencies under the NCRC Field Empowerment Fund - Housing Counseling Services program .

"I'm thrilled to deepen our support for these housing counseling grantees across the service areas of KeyBank and HSBC, with whom we worked diligently to identify ways to provide direct, high-impact services to better meet the needs of these same communities," said Jesse Van Tol, President and CEO of NCRC. "Housing justice advocates work hard to influence public policy and private lender practices so that the resources are there to help renters become homeowners, and the successful impact of that work ultimately depends on housing counselors. They are the ones helping hardworking families actually access those resources and navigate those programs. It's such an important and underappreciated part of how we build a better, fairer world where everyone can access the wealth-building potential of homeownership."

The Field Empowerment Fund (FEF) empowers NCRC network members to level up their established service lines. With the conclusion of this grant cycle, NCRC will have provided $8 million via 142 grants to NCRC member organizations through the fund since its inception in 2021.

The Housing Counseling Services series within FEF supports HUD-approved housing counseling agencies in driving homeownership through pre-purchase counseling. In addition, the program builds agency knowledge on heirs' property challenges to better equip low-wealth, homebuying households with the know-how to begin their homeownership journey, with an additional goal of ensuring foresight into the long-term future of their home purchase.

The FEF-HCS series is funded in partnership with KeyBank and HSBC, and targets communities within the KeyBank and HSBC branch footprints.

The 2025 NCRC Field Empowerment Fund - Housing Counseling Services grantees are:

Affordable Housing Centers of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA)

Affordable Housing Partnership of the Capital Region Inc. (Albany, NY)

ASIAN, Inc. (Santa Ana, CA)

Asociacion Puertorriquenos En Marcha, Inc. (Philadelphia, PA)

Belmont Housing Resource for WNY, Inc., Financial Education Center (Buffalo, NY)

Benjamin Rose (Cleveland, OH)

Bienestar (Hillsboro, OR)

Bridgeport Neighborhood Trust Inc. (Bridgeport, CT)

Bridging Communities, Inc. (Detroit, MI)

Buffalo Urban League, Inc. (Buffalo, NY)

Cambridge Credit Counseling Corp. (Agawam, MA)

Columbus Urban League (Columbus, OH)

Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley, Inc. (Bethlehem, PA)

Community Housing Innovations, Inc. (White Plains, NY)

Community Housing Solutions (Cleveland, OH)

Community Resources and Housing Development Corporation (Westminster, CO)

Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Inc. (Philadelphia, PA)

Credit.org (Seattle, WA)

Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation (Detroit, MI)

East LA Community Corporation (Los Angeles, CA)

Friends of DHA (Denver, CO)

Greater Washington Urban League (Washington, DC)

Hacienda Community Development Corporation (Portland, OR)

Hispanic Association of Contractors and Enterprises (Philadelphia, PA)

Housing Development Fund, Inc. (Stamford, CT)

Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership (Indianapolis, IN)

Latino Economic Development Corporation of Washington, D.C. (Washington, DC)

Manna, Inc. (Washington, DC)

Margert Community Corporation (Far Rockaway, NY)

Matrix Human Services (Detroit, MI)

MiSide Wealth (Detroit, MI)

Mt. Airy USA (Philadelphia, PA)

Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America - Los Angeles, a Counseling Subsidiary of Neighborhood Stabilization Corporation (Los Angeles, CA)

Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America - Newark, Counseling Subsidiary of Neighborhood Stabilization Corporation (Newark, NJ)

Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America - Washington DC, A Counseling Subsidiary of Neighborhood Stabilization Corporation (Washington, DC)

Neighborhood Housing Services of Brooklyn, CDC, Inc. (Brooklyn, NY)

Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Berks, Inc. (Penn Hills, PA)

Neighborhood Housing Services Of New Haven, Inc. (New Haven, CT)

Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City, Inc. (New York, NY)

Neighborhood Housing Service of Orange County, Inc. (Orange, CA)

Neighborhood Housing Services of Waterbury (Waterbury, CT)

Subsidiary of Neighborhood Stabilization Corporation (Hawthorne, CA)

New Economics for Women (Los Angeles, CA)

New Jersey Citizen Action Education Fund, Inc. (Newark, NJ)

Nueva Esperanza, Inc. (Philadelphia, PA)

Opportunities Industrialization Center of Washington (Yakima, WA)

Rural Alaska Community Action Program, Inc. (Anchorage, AK)

San Francisco Housing Development Corporation (San Francisco, CA)

Sowing Empowerment & Economic Development, Inc. (Detroit, MI)

Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity (Tacoma, WA)

United Planning Organization (Washington, DC)

University Legal Services (Washington, DC)

Urban League of Greater Hartford (Hartford, CT)

Urban League of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA)

Urban League of Union County (Elizabeth, NJ)

Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency (Detroit, MI)

Westchester Residential Opportunities, Inc. (White Plains, NY)

Working In Neighborhoods (Cincinnati, OH)

Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (Youngstown, OH)

Annually, these agencies serve over 91,000 households across the United States, with over 52,000 of those households falling under 80% of their area's median income. This grant funding will fuel their critical services, empowering families across the country to achieve housing stability and build wealth.

For more information about the Field Empowerment Fund, visit NCRC.org/fef .