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Down Payment Grants

Down Payment Grants

birdSEED Foundation’s Housing Justice Fund has given $215,000 in provisional awards to first time BIPOC home buyers. These “no-strings” awards are given to accelerate the home buying for community members that have been largely excluded from ownership pathways.

Flock DC launched the birdSEED fund in February of 2021 in response to the ubiquitous inequity in ownership and deep interest in working toward an anti-racist future as a family of real estate management companies

“We funded and released birdSEED to advance home ownership for Black and Brown first time home buyers. We hope this work is trend setting and leads to a reparative justice movement in the real estate industry across the country. Anything less is not enough.”

Community representatives from Washington D.C. and Philadelphia have selected over 40 grant recipients

birdSEED will continue grantmaking until the initial investment of $215,000 and additional donations are fully expended. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and are intentionally simplified. A handful of questions, a one page essay and a follow up interview are a few of the requirements. Applications are reviewed by the Advisory Board and selected based on greatest impact, since qualifying for home ownership should be a basic human right. 

Eligibility Survey

ALWAYS OPEN

DOWN PAYMENT GRANTS

GRANT APPLICATION OPEN

March 26, 2021

Press Release

Nation’s First Private Reparative Justice Fund Awards Inaugural Down Payment Grants

Visit our Press page for more news

About

Our housing justice program offers down payment grants to qualifying BIPOC first time home buying residents in the DC and Philadelphia areas. Awards range from $5,000 to $15,000 and grants are made multiple times per year until funds are expended.

The application/review process is straight forward and uncomplicated.

Our Board of Advisors reviews applications, interviews finalists and identifies grantees. This is a partnership with the Greater Washington Community Foundation who supports the administrative complexity so we can very simply help people buy homes. *

Applicants must identify as one of the following: American Indian, Indigenous, Alaska Native, Asian, Pacific Islander, Black, African American, Hispanic or Latinix birdSEED has made 29 provisional grants to date. The total grant pool available was $215,000. Additional funds have been raised from supportive community members who shared our vision of simple, no strings financial down payment grants that accelerate the home buying process. If you are positioned to give, please do. Needs are great, resources are limited and your help is essential.

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