Habitat for Humanity’s Greater Cincinnati branch has won $3 million in grant funding for affordable housing rehab and construction in both the Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati regions.
The funding was granted as part of Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati’s Affordable Housing Program, which awarded a total of $51.9 million — its largest grant amount ever — to 30 different organizations.
The money will be used to create 2,990 units of affordable housing in Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, according to a press release from the bank.
Our region, according to a housing strategies report released in 2025, lacks sufficient housing for young adults forming their first household; for essential workers like nurses, teachers and first responders; and for older adults. A teacher with a median annual income of $43,740, for example, can afford only 26% of the rental and 16% of the for-sale housing in the region, according to the report. For a restaurant server, only 1% of the region’s rental housing is affordable.
An older person relying on Social Security can also afford only 1% of rental housing in the region, according to the report.
The report, called Home for All: Northern Kentucky Housing Strategies, came to be thanks to more than 90 leaders and experts from across NKY who spent hours studying the region and its urgent housing challenge. Their goal was to close the housing gap across income levels and provide a place for everyone.
Click here to learn more about the shortage and how NKY leaders and community members are stepping in to find solutions.
Understanding NKY’s housing shortage
“The affordable housing landscape is changing with many of our members and the organizations they support facing unprecedented challenges in the development and rehabilitation of housing throughout our region,” bank President and CEO Andrew Howell said in the release. “We are proud to illustrate our commitment to affordable housing through our largest ever announcement of Affordable Housing Program grants.”
You can view a full list of awardees and award amounts at the Federal Home Loan Bank’s dedicated webpage.
