A practical guide to grants for housing nonprofits, federal HUD programs, state housing funds, foundations, and how to compete for affordable housing funding.

2025–2026 STATUS UPDATE: HUD homelessness programs (CoC, ESG) are currently subject to active policy disputes and litigation. The administration’s FY 2027 budget proposes eliminating CoC and expanding ESG. Verify current program status at HUD.gov.

Affordable housing and housing-services work is some of the most heavily funded nonprofit territory in the United States, and also some of the most complex. Federal funding through HUD, state housing finance agencies, foundations, CDFI Fund support, and corporate giving all flow to housing nonprofits.

This guide covers the major sources of grants for housing nonprofits and how to navigate them.

TL;DR: Quick Answers

Who funds housing nonprofits? HUD (formula and competitive), state housing finance agencies, foundations, CDFI Fund, corporate funders.
Who can apply? CDCs, CHDOs, public housing authorities, nonprofits, tribal entities, and others depending on the program.
What gets funded? Development, rental assistance, homelessness services, homeownership counseling, capacity, capital.
What’s the biggest opportunity? HUD CDBG, HOME, ESG, CoC plus Section 4 intermediary funding.

Federal Housing Funding

HUD is the dominant federal housing funder, see HUD grants guide. Key programs:

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to cities, counties, states, often re-granted to nonprofits.
HOME Investment Partnerships Program for affordable housing development.
Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) for homelessness services, see grants for homelessness services.
Continuum of Care (CoC) Program for homeless services systems.
Section 4 Capacity Building through national intermediaries (NeighborWorks, LISC, Enterprise).
Lead Hazard Control for healthy housing.
Choice Neighborhoods for large-scale neighborhood transformation.

USDA Rural Development funds rural housing, see USDA grants guide.

Treasury CDFI Fund for Community Development Financial Institutions doing housing finance.

VA for veteran housing, see VA grants guide.

State Housing Finance Agencies

Every state has a Housing Finance Agency (HFA) that administers Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) and various housing programs. State housing trust funds, state HOME funding, and state ESG flow through HFAs. Identify yours and subscribe to their notifications.

Foundation Funders

Major foundations funding housing include:

Enterprise Community Partners (intermediary, regrants).
NeighborWorks America (intermediary network).
Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) (intermediary).
JPMorgan Chase Foundation, Wells Fargo Foundation, and many bank-related funders.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Kresge Foundation, Ford Foundation for housing-as-health-determinant work.
MacArthur Foundation historically.
Community foundations in major metros.
Health conversion foundations funding housing as health.

Corporate Funders

Banks are especially active in housing funding (driven partly by Community Reinvestment Act requirements):

Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi, U.S. Bank, PNC, Truist, and many regional banks.
Insurance companies (State Farm, Allstate).
Tech companies in their headquarters communities.

See corporate giving programs guide.

What Gets Funded

Affordable housing development (new construction, rehabilitation).
Rental assistance and homelessness prevention.
Permanent supportive housing.
Homeownership counseling and HUD-approved counseling.
Homelessness services (shelter, rapid rehousing, outreach), see grants for homelessness services.
Capacity building for housing nonprofits (CDCs, CHDOs).
Healthy housing (lead, asthma, weatherization).
Capital for housing facilities, see capital campaign grants.

Tips for a Competitive Housing Application

Document need with HUD data. Point-in-Time counts, HMIS data, ACS housing-cost burden, fair housing data.
Show local plan alignment. Consolidated Plan, CoC plan, state QAP, local housing strategy.
Demonstrate financial capacity. Federal housing money requires strong financial systems.
Build partnerships. Housing work is collaborative, banks, services, developers, CoCs, see partnerships in grant proposals.
Plan sustainability with realistic operating costs.

How Grantboost Helps

Housing funding is spread across HUD, state HFAs, foundations, CDFI Fund, banks, and intermediaries. Grantboost continuously scans these sources and surfaces scored, mission-matched opportunities. Drafts come back in your organization’s voice (see training AI on your past proposals).

Try Grantboost free and find the housing funding that fits your work.

Grants for Housing Nonprofits: Federal, State, and Foundation Funding