Thanks to a $25 million donation from a wealthy philanthropist and another $10 million from a foundation, the Santa Fe nonprofit developer Homewise Inc. is positioned to tackle the affordable housing crisis in an unprecedented fashion. Homewise officials announced early Thursday in a news release they had received the $25 million gift from Seattle billionaire MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving organization as well as a $10 million “impact investment” from the Anchorum Health Foundation in Santa Fe.
Homewise CEO Mike Loftin called the Scott donation “game-changing,” adding it comes with no strings attached. “We’re very good at incremental change, but having a chance to kick it up to another level is very appealing,” he said. None of the funding included in the Scott donation or the Anchorum investment will be spent on Homewise’s operational costs, Loftin said, vowing all of it will go to the folks who need help the most.
“It will be spent 100% on people,” he said. According to the news release, the funds will allow Homewise to significantly expand its lending programs for first-time home buyers and to improve energy efficiency in homes. Loftin said Homewise officials have not had the chance to decide how much of the funding will be directed toward each of those purposes, but he said they strongly relate to each other.
“We’re trying to build more and more new homes that are affordable and energy efficient,” he said. Jerry Jones, president and CEO of the .
