Home rehabilitation and ownership

The Greater Milwaukee Foundation is investing in a new housing strategy to increase homeownership for Black and Brown families to spur generational wealth building. The program provides access to capital for eligible alumni of the Associates in Commercial Real Estate program, which recruits and prepares people of color for careers in the field. ACRE alumni participating in the city of Milwaukee’s Homes MKE housing rehab program will use the funding to renovate foreclosed homes. Homebuyers of color will then be connected to the ready-to-purchase home opportunities the program creates. 

A $500,000 Foundation impact investment loan approved in fall 2022 will be matched by the Northwest Side CDC, which will administer the loan program for ACRE developers. This $1 million investment is expected to renovate 10-12 homes, with an emphasis on Bronzeville neighborhoods, as part of Home MKE’s 150-home goal. By investing in this program, the Foundation and our donors are helping change systems uplifting Black and Brown-owned businesses, revitalizing disinvested neighborhoods and combating the homeownership disparity gap.