Southwest Housing Solutions will receive $2 million in federal funds to further its community development and affordable housing initiatives in southwest Detroit.

The grant is from the U.S. Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Capital Magnet Fund. It was announced through a joint statement by Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow.

The announcement was picked up by various media outlets, including the Detroit News, which wrote that Southwest Solutions “has established itself as one of Detroit's most diverse and proactive non-profits.”

Southwest Housing will use the funds to build, rehabilitate or repair a total of 137 residential units of affordable housing. The units are both single-family homes and within multifamily buildings. In addition, the funds will support the development of community service facilities in southwest Detroit.

"We received this Capital Magnet Fund award because of our strong partnerships with city, county, state and federal agencies, as well as other organizations working to revitalize communities, such as NeighborWorks," said Tim Thorland, executive director of Southwest Housing Solutions. "The award is an important investment in our community projects and will also enable us to leverage financing from other sources to support their development."

In establishing the Capital Magnet Fund (CMF), the minimal "leveraging" target set by Congress for applicants and awardees is a factor of ten. This means that Southwest Housing Solutions will leverage its $2 million grant into at least $20 million.

The Capital Magnet Fund (CMF) is intended to provide critical financing to community development agencies so they can meet affordable housing, economic development and community service needs in low-income areas. In this first-ever round of the Fund, a total of $80 million was awarded to 23 nonprofit organizations in 38 states. The round was highly competitive, with 230 different organizations submitting applications. For any project that receives a CMF grant, the grant cannot constitute more than 10% of the project's development costs.

In addition to Southwest Housing Solutions, another Michigan nonprofit, Great Lakes Capital Fund Nonprofit Housing Corporation (GLCF), received a CMF grant, in the amount of $4 million.

Southwest Solutions and GLCF frequently partner together on development projects that benefit the community.