Austin Community Foundation joins effort to preserve affordable housing

Austin Community Foundation has joined as an investor in the Austin Housing Conservancy Fund, a recently created investment vehicle that is intended to preserve middle-class multifamily housing developments throughout the city. The foundation has invested $250,000 in the fund, which so far has purchased three apartment communities with nearly 1,000 total units and will keep rents affordable to families earning between $34,000 and $68,000 per year. The investment funds from Austin Community Foundation came from its FundATX program, which was created to help investors find opportunities that would let them put their dollars toward initiatives that improve the economic security of Central Texans. Since January, FundATX has raised approximately $500,000 and has committed $2.5 million to local organizations.