The National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) today opened applications for a new Housing Counseling Services (HCS) grant application within its already well-established, multi-year Field Empowerment Fund (FEF).
Through a partnership with KeyBank, $2.5 million has been allocated for direct-to-client housing counseling services that will be awarded in three rounds:
- 2025 Round: $850,000
- 2026 Round: $850,000
- 2027 Round: $800,000
The HCS-FEF program supports NCRC members within the bank’s footprint who are HUD-approved housing counseling agencies in driving homeownership in their communities. It also builds agency knowledge on heirs’ property challenges to better equip first-time and low-income homebuying households with the know-how to retain intergenerational wealth.
“This new program will not only help many American families receive the support they need to stay in their homes and grow their generational wealth during these turbulent times, but also it shows the good work that can be done when banks are willing to enter into dialogue,” said Jesse Van Tol, NCRC President and CEO. “We worked hard with KeyBank to identify an effective path forward. These grants and the direct services they will fund are the first harvest from that hard work. We persisted and now we are seeing the benefits of this persistence.”
Since its inception in 2021, FEF has delivered more than $6.7 million in grants to 66 NCRC member organizations serving low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities.
“Addressing wealth disparities through diverse avenues of change is key to realizing a just economy at the local level. We are excited to add a new round of FEF that specifically bolsters our members’ capacity to provide much-needed support for first-time homebuyers in their communities,” NCRC Director of Grant Administration Laura Bentley said.
All applications are to be submitted online no later than 5 pm ET on March 14, 2025.
To see if your agency is in an eligible geography or for additional information, visit: www.ncrc.org/fef
Questions regarding this opportunity should be emailed to impact@ncrc.org, with the subject line “FEF-HCS.”
