Three PA nonprofits awarded $200k grants from TD to support affordable housing

Three Pennsylvania nonprofits have each received $200,000 grants from the TD Charitable Foundation as part of its 19th annual Housing for Everyone program, aimed at supporting affordable housing initiatives.

The three recipients received grants that are part of a broader $7.2 million initiative by the TD Charitable Foundation, which distributed funds to 36 nonprofits across the bank's service areas to address challenges in sustaining homeownership. 

The three Pennsylvania entities selected were:

• Affordable Housing Centers of Pennsylvania: The Affordable Housing Centers of PA team plans to use the $200k grant support its homeownership success program. The program is tailored to homeowners working to increase their financial capacity, helping them age-in-place in their home and preparing a plan to pass their home down to future generations. This initiative would be achieved through their post-purchase education class, mortgage foreclosure counseling program and their Will Power program promoting estate planning.
• Philadelphia Legal Assistance Center, Inc.: The Philadelphia Legal Assistance Center will put the $200k grant towards its Philadelphia Legal Assistance's project. The program aids to provide direct legal representation to homeowners and equitable owners in Philadelphia to preserve and stabilize housing for low-income homeowners facing the threat of mortgage or tax foreclosure or who are equitable owners, such as heirs, who do not have record title to their home, i.e., a "tangled title." 
• SeniorLaw Center: The $200k grant will support SeniorLAW Center's Homeownership Rights Project (HRP) program. This year-round program aims to address the legal needs of low-moderate-income older homeowners in Philadelphia, with a focus on BIPOC communities facing persistent disparities in homeownership. The Senior Law Center team plans to tackle mortgage foreclosure, deed and contractor fraud, tangled titles, and property tax problems. The program aims to preserve and stabilize homeownership by using the power of the law, educating the community, and advocating on local, state, and national levels.

Many households in low-to-moderate income communities face challenges that threaten their ability to sustain homeownership, including rising property taxes, increasing home repair costs, and risk of foreclosure. 

To help address these issues, TD selected grant recipients focused on programs such as those that provide post-purchase homeownership support, foreclosure counseling, financial assistance funds (when accompanied by post-purchase counseling), essential repairs, energy efficiency improvements, legal assistance, and/or property tax relief programs.

"Amid rising housing costs, these organizations play a vital role in supporting homeowners in communities across TD's footprint to afford critical repairs, avoid foreclosure, correct tangled titles, and so much more," said Paige Carlson-Heim, Director of the TD Charitable Foundation. "The efforts of the Housing for Everyone grantees are so appreciated, as their work is essential to protecting homeowners and providing long-term stability in our neighborhoods. By supporting these nonprofits, we hope to help mitigate the threat of home loss while ensuring homeowners have the resources and resilience they need to sustain long-term homeownership."

TD's Housing for Everyone program supports TD’s longstanding commitment to communities as well as the bank’s efforts to help people live with greater financial confidence. 

Since its inception in 2005, Housing for Everyone has provided more than $63 million to help more than 620 affordable housing initiatives in the U.S. communities TD serves from Maine to Florida and in the Detroit metro area.