Report Title:	Intermediary Profile Report
Report Date:

Organization:	Enterprise Community Partners	Program ID Number: I-28
Date Profile Created:	June 29, 2009	Date Profile Last Updated: July 30, 2009

Program Summary:
Enterprise Community Partners is a national intermediary with more than 25 years of experience in the community development and affordable housing field. Enterprise creates opportunity for low- and moderate-income people through fit, affordable housing and diverse, thriving communities. Central to its mission is Enterprise's fundamental commitment to give people living in poverty an opportunity to move up and out. Enterprise has learned that these opportunities are best provided in communities with a diverse mix of affordable and market housing options, access to jobs and social supports, and a strong commitment to the environment and civic participation. To date, Enterprise has invested more than $10 billion in communities across the country.

Enterprise is not an endowed foundation. It works with a variety of public and private partners to improve local community development systems. Currently, Enterprise offers a limited number of grants to help community-based organizations expand or improve their revitalization efforts. With few exceptions, most grants are available only to nonprofits located in eight impact markets: New York, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., the Gulf Coast region, Ohio, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area and the Pacific Northwest. Enterprise also provides technical assistance to community development organizations through local offices, as well as loans and working capital to support community development and revitalization. Additionally, Enterprise offers the MetLife Awards for Excellence in Affordable Housing, which provides stipends to outstanding organizations that have effectively managed housing for low-income individuals and families. It also conducts a national competition for the three-year Frederick P. Rose Fellowship, which places architectural professionals with host organizations in local communities. The fellowship aims to enhance the organization's ability to execute development projects with the best designs, effective community engagement and the most advanced green building features.

Enterprise focuses capacity-building assistance in three areas: (1) financial assistance to support the development of environmentally smart and sustainable affordable housing through its national Green Communities initiative; (2) financial assistance that results in strengthening the organizational capacity of local partners; and (3) financial assistance that supports specific development projects with predevelopment funding. Enterprise looks for demonstrated commitment by organizations to incorporate green building and design, and to employ innovative solutions and partnerships that create affordable housing opportunities as well as address the comprehensive needs of low-income individuals and families. Projects that significantly expand or improve the operational capacity of organizations to respond to the needs of their communities through high-impact development and revitalization efforts are also considered. Enterprise uses an RFP process for most grants. Grant programs and outcomes are evaluated based on organizational productivity and measured impact at the community level.

Through Green Communities (www.greencommunitiesonline.org), Enterprise aims to make green the standard in affordable housing. Since the inception of Green Communities in 2004, Enterprise has invested $655 million in grants, loans and equity to create green affordable homes. Green Communities offers grants to help cover the costs of planning and implementing green components of affordable housing developments, as well as tracking their costs and benefits. These include: (1) planning and construction grants of up to $75,000; (2) charrette grants of up to $5,000 to assist housing developers with integrating green building systems in their developments and engaging in a serious discussion of green design possibilities; and (3) sustainability training grants (post-construction) of up to $5,000. Individual grant requests are reviewed and acted on by a grants committee that includes Enterprise staff. More information about Green Communities grants and the Green Communities Criteria is available at www.greencommunitiesonline.org.

Enterprise's comprehensive Resource Database, an additional capacity building tool (www.practitionerresources.org.), contains more than 800 print resources covering many capacity-building and technical assistance topics, as well as "how-to" resources and models.