Invested Once. Affordable Forever. How NeighborWorks® America Advanced the Shared Equity Housing Field

NeighborWorks America’s Invested Once. Affordable Forever. report examines eight years of work through the Shared Equity Housing Initiative and the organization’s investment in expanding permanently affordable homeownership. The initiative combined grants, professional learning, technical assistance, peer exchange, evaluation and capital strategies to help NeighborWorks network organizations launch, strengthen and scale shared equity housing programs. Since 2019, 102 network organizations have engaged with the initiative, more than 600 practitioners have completed professional development training and grantees have produced 1,213 new shared equity homes. Network organizations reporting shared equity portfolios increased their combined portfolios from 2,754 units in 2019 to 5,546 units in 2026, while grantees leveraged $135 million in additional capital. 

Beyond documenting results, the report captures lessons about what it takes to build sustainable shared equity housing programs. It finds that flexible, multistage funding can help organizations move from feasibility to implementation and growth, peer learning can accelerate decision-making and access to capital is critical to achieving greater scale. The report also highlights how investments in training, technical assistance, evaluation and organizational capacity created infrastructure that can continue beyond individual grant cycles. NeighborWorks America plans to build on that foundation through continued collaboration and partnerships that advance shared equity housing within the NeighborWorks network and beyond.