Down Payment Grants

Community representatives from Washington D.C. have selected over 20 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.

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Systemic racism and discrimination creates home buying hurdles for people of color.

Natasha Bonhomme

birdSEED Advisory Board member

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There are two words that we think best describe how we feel: grateful and affirmed. For we now know our path towards homeownership in DC is possible because of support from birdSEED.

Anthony R. Keith Jr. & Harry Christian III

Recipients of $10,000 down payment grants

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The real estate industry has played a significant role in the suppression of intergenerational wealth building for the BIPOC community. We can and must do what we can to right this wrong and create a more just and equitable future in housing.

Lisa Wise

CEO, Flock DC

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Thank you, to the birdSEED Foundation, for allowing my family and I to express our experiences with purchasing a home and providing us with funds to maximize our budgets. Please continue your growth to share wealth and provide support to Black, low income families by planting SEEDs and harvesting our communities

Tasharn Richardson

Recipient of $10,000 down payment grant

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We are proud to partner with Flock and welcome birdSEED into the Foundation family. This program comes at a time when our region, and our nation, is reckoning with its past and searching for solutions to address the history of discriminatory policies that Black and Brown folks have endured in our communities. We look forward to working with our community to grow the seed of this work to a scale that matches the disparities we see and the aspirations we share for a racially equitable and just region

Tonia Wellons

President & CEO of the GWACF

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.