PR Newswire
WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2023
Nationwide Competition Drew Innovative, Scalable Solutions to Remove Barriers in the Home Renting and Buying Experience
WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Fannie Mae (OTCQB: FNMA) today announced the selection of five organizations to receive deliverable-based contracts under the Sustainable Communities Innovation Challenge, a nationwide competition to help advance racial equity in housing. Through the Innovation Challenge 2022 (IC22), the company sought innovative, scalable proposals to remove barriers that currently prevent many households, including Black households, from purchasing or renting a home.
The Innovation Challenge is part of Fannie Mae's Sustainable Communities Partnership and Innovation initiative, which focuses on developing collaborative, cross-sector approaches to advancing sustainable communities and generating solutions for the nation's most pressing housing issues. Fannie Mae solicited proposals that specifically address the insufficient supply of quality affordable housing options, insufficient funds for upfront and unexpected housing costs, and consumer credit challenges, including low credit scores and credit invisibility.
"A history of discriminatory housing policies and practices has created profound inequities in the housing system that persist to this day. The Innovation Challenge is one example of Fannie Mae's commitment to address those inequities and knock down the barriers that consumers, particularly Black consumers, face throughout the housing journey," said Maria Evans, Vice President of Community Impact, Fannie Mae. "The proposals we selected provide thoughtful, tangible, scalable solutions to the most salient housing problems people face in the U.S. We are excited to work with these organizations and to support their innovative projects."
IC22 builds on the previous Sustainable Communities Innovation Challenge, a nationwide competition that awarded over $7 million to 13 organizations to advance innovative projects that linked affordable housing to education, health, and economic opportunities. All submitted proposals were evaluated against a predetermined set of criteria and went through multiple rounds of review, including a semi-final review by an expert advisory panel comprised of leaders from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. The final contract award decisions were made by Fannie Mae.
Fannie Mae has been at the forefront of developing and implementing products and programs that facilitate equitable and sustainable access to homeownership and quality affordable rental housing. In 2022, the company released the Equitable Housing Finance Plan, a series of actions that address different barriers in housing experienced by homebuyers and renters.
To learn more about IC22, the contract awardees, and their innovative solutions, please visit https://www.fanniemae.com/thechallenge/. To view all proposals submitted through the Innovation Challenge, please visit the Sustainable Communities searchable database at http://challengedatabase.fanniemae.com/.
Fannie Mae advances equitable and sustainable access to homeownership and quality, affordable rental housing for millions of people across America. We enable the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and drive responsible innovation to make homebuying and renting easier, fairer, and more accessible. To learn more, visit:
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SOURCE Fannie Mae