A Firstenburg Loan Enables the Council For the Homeless to Find a New Home

In Clark County, Washington, housing insecurity is on the rise. As rent goes up and people struggle to keep pace, nonprofit organizations in our community, like the Council for the Homeless (CFTH), play a vital role in ensuring our neighbors are cared for. As part of our mission to address houselessness and housing insecurity, The Firstenburg Foundation has supported the CFTH with a loan to fund the purchase of a new office building for the organization’s staff.

At their new location on Fourth Plain, the CFTH is excited to be positioned close to multiple organizations that assist with housing, health, and food insecurity. This prime location will provide a central hub where all CFTH employees can work under the same roof, providing the cohesion necessary to address the challenges of houselessness in Clark County. The CFTH will also be able to gain income from retail tenants in the building, which creates an additional income stream for the organization.

When a Loan is Smarter Than a Grant

Offering a loan rather than a grant is a new direction for the fFoundation but one we’re excited to explore. We’re limited to granting five percent of our total corpus every year. For nonprofits looking to make a large capital purchase, grant money alone may not be enough. By loaning money to the CFTH, the Foundation was able to provide 2.5 times the amount of money we are usually able to grant in one year, thus helping the CFTH secure a building in a location where they can best serve the City of Vancouver and Clark County as a whole.

What makes this loan exciting is the opportunities it presents the CFTH and future nonprofits to act quickly on investments that matter the most. In cases such as these, time is of the essence: as property costs continue to rise, individuals aren’t the only ones feeling the pressure to keep up.

Nonprofits Need Financial Agility

Let’s say a nonprofit needs to purchase a new building for $5 million. They get a grant to cover half the cost but still must save up to cover the rest before they can make an offer on the property. It may take years to amass the funds necessary for such an important purchase — during which the cost of real estate in our area will continue to rise. By the time the nonprofit has met its funding goal, the price of the property may have gone from $5 million to $7.5 million, meaning they’re still short. In addition, nonprofits often find themselves competing with developers with far more funding to leverage.

By extending a loan, The Firstenburg Foundation seeks to solve that problem. The CFTH needed to find a new home quickly, and the loan allowed them to act with speed and secure a location that worked best for their needs. Now, the CFTH is able to buy the building at a lower cost and immediately move its headquarters rather than waiting for years for an uncertain outcome.

Investing in the Future of Affordable Housing

As housing costs continue to rise, The Firstenburg Foundation recognizes the importance of investing in housing stability for our community. Organizations like the CFTH are pioneering solutions to these challenges and need the funds to keep pace. With the flexibility that offering loans provides our Foundation, we hope to do more lending to affordable housing nonprofits and organizations helping to prevent houselessness as we work to ensure that everyone in our community has a place to call home.