Rising Housing Secures New Funding for West Baltimore Community Revitalization
February 14, 2024
Baltimore, MD – Rising Housing has received a new significant round of funding for its mission to rebuild historically oppressed neighborhoods in Baltimore City. Rising Housing is catalyzing scalable economic democracy in housing finance through the development of a new investment structure called the Impact Real Estate Portfolio (IREP).
Rising Housing has secured $2.2 million in loan funding from the Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy (BRED), a local loan administrator to Seed Commons, a national community development financial institution. This crucial funding, augmenting the previously awarded $2.7 million, represents a monumental advancement in Rising Housing's quest to transform West Baltimore’s redlined neighborhoods into vibrant, thriving communities owned by the workers and the tenants investing their labor and love into this transformational work.
“We are deeply grateful for the support from BRED and Seed Commons. Their commitment to this work is a testament to our collective effort not only to rebuild Baltimore’s oppressed neighborhoods, but to share the wealth and health we generate with our community members," said Karmen Smith IX, property manager at Rising Housing and president of WaterBottle.
Founded in 2019, Rising Housing is a subsidiary of WaterBottle, a cooperative founded by the workers of Appalachian Field Services, an employment social enterprise construction company. Rising Housing’s IREP currently includes 19 properties across the following neighborhoods: Park Circle, Matthew Henson, Midtown Edmondson, Arlington, Liberty Square, and Sandtown-Winchester. Eight properties are leased, and the rest are in various stages of rehabilitation and renovation. This new funding will enable Rising Housing to accelerate its mission to purchase, renovate, and lease extremely distressed properties, while also providing employment, training, affordable housing and other economic empowerment for local residents.
“Our goal is to rebuild these neighborhoods while striving to hire members of the communities we are working in,” said Ty Brown, director of operations for Appalachian Field Services and secretary of WaterBottle. “We hire immigrants, the formerly incarcerated and those recovering from addiction who face barriers to employment and who would otherwise not have the opportunity to experience positions in the renovation field."
Rising Housing's approach is rooted in the ethos of WaterBottle Cooperative, ensuring that the benefits of redevelopment are returned to local stakeholders, including workers, tenants and neighborhood businesses. Rising Housing is committed to sustainable community growth and equitable wealth distribution.
For media requests about Rising Housing and our projects, please contact Stephanie Olivia García at stephanie@waterbottle.coop. Visit us at risinghousing.com and follow us on LinkedIn at @RisingHousing.
