Group of St. Louis Organizations Named 'Scaling Pathways to Homeownership' Finalist

Group of St. Louis Organizations Named "Scaling Pathways to Homeownership" Finalist

Bring St. Louis Home has been announced as one of 10 finalists for Scaling Pathways to Homeownership, a $25 million philanthropic Open Call by Capital One and the Capital One Foundation.

Bring St. Louis Home is made up of St. Louis-based organizations committed to community-driven, innovative and scalable finance solutions to bring more affordable housing to North St. Louis. The organizations are St. Louis Community Foundation (SLCF), St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC), 4theVille, Invest STL and St. Louis Community Credit Union (SLCCU).

The Scaling Pathways to Homeownership program, launched in 2025 as part of Capital One's $265 billion Community Benefits Plan (CBP), addresses a challenge facing communities nationwide: too few affordable homes and the barriers to buying one.

Bring St. Louis Home is one of 10 finalists to propose scalable solutions to expand housing supply, lower the cost of building or buying, and help more people prepare for homeownership. Bring St. Louis Home was selected from more than 500 applicants nationwide.

Each finalist will receive $200,000 in initial funding from the Capital One Foundation, alongside specialized technical assistance from global nonprofit consultancy Spring Impact, to refine their proposals over a three-month period. After proposal revisions, five final awardees will be selected in spring 2027 to receive $4.6 million each to implement their solutions over five years. Finalists were selected based on four key criteria: whether they were innovative, impactful, bridge-building, and durable.

How this would work between the St. Louis organizations:

• SLCF: Lead applicant, philanthropic holder of funds, can leverage other philanthropic organizations.

• SLDC: Provides no-cost parcels from city's land bank, New Markets Tax Credits allocation for housing development, and other available funding and incentive opportunities.

• 4theVille: Community engagement, alignment with approved neighborhood plans.

• Invest STL: Works with banks and appraisers through a Restorative Home Appraisal Valuation framework that enables appraisers to identify comparable sales from neighborhoods with similar housing composition, rather than relying solely on proximity. In other words, this can lead to homes being valued at more objective prices in North St. Louis.

• SLCCU: Provides homebuyer education courses and downpayment assistance through a second mortgage to lower mortgage payments by avoiding Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) or getting close to the 20% downpayment threshold. Other banks and entities could eventually participate by providing downpayment assistance funds as well.

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