2024 Social Impact
We create vibrant, integrated housing communities that meet the affordability needs of a wide range of families, seniors, and individuals with special needs. Our strategic emphasis on service-enriched affordable housing fosters empowered communities, contributing to broader societal well-being.
We adopted the Multifamily Impact Framework which created a common standard and transparent reporting guidelines to drive more impact in the rental housing industry.
Explore our 2024 impact in the seven key areas of the framework: affordability, housing stability, economic health and mobility, resident engagement, health and wellness, climate and resiliency, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
| Our Portfolio | ||
 |
17% | 0–30% of Area Median Income |
| 55% | 31-50% of Area Median Income | |
| 26% | 51–80% of Area Median Income | |
| 2% | Earning near the Area Median Income | |
Affordability
- We set our rental rates so families and individuals with lower incomes can afford to stay in their homes as long as they need.
- Our subsidiary CDFI, Mercy Community Capital, loaned $22 million to socially responsible developers to finance affordable housing developments and community infrastructure this year. For every dollar invested, we helped create or preserve $28 of affordable housing, leading to the creation of almost 2,000 new affordable homes.
- S&P Global Ratings reaffirmed our AA- credit rating, the highest rating to be obtained by a nonprofit social housing provider. This strong endorsement of our financial strength enables us to continue developing affordable housing at scale.
Housing Stability
- Residents live in their Mercy Housing home on average for seven years. That’s three times the national average, providing the stability people need for success.
- With support from MacKenzie Scott, we launched a new strategic change initiative designed to fill vacant apartments more efficiently, reduce turnover, and reduce utility costs.
- One fourth of Mercy Housing residents accessed additional services to help them stay in their homes, including rental assistance and housing success coaching.
Economic Health and Mobility
- We helped 3,500 residents access public benefits, including nutrition support and insurance.
- At more than half of our communities, residents can opt-in to having their rental payments reported to a credit bureau, helping to build positive credit scores and improve financial stability.
- We formed a new partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau and Eviction Lab to analyze economic outcomes for people who have lived in Mercy Housing homes, leading to key insights about the power of affordable housing.
- We partnered with HUD on the Family Self-Sufficiency Program. This model helps families with low incomes increase their financial security and build their savings. With the success of our launch in Denver, we will be expanding this program to other communities.
Resident Engagement
- Mercy Housing residents have access to free onsite resident services and nearly 70% participated in at least one program.
- Our Community Connect program empowers residents to participate in the governance of their own communities. Residents, service providers, and property management staff meet up regularly to build connections and make decisions together.
- Next year, we will pilot a new resident-feedback survey and incorporate the results into our service delivery and property management model.
Health and Wellness
- We deepen our impact by addressing the social determinants of health, recognizing that our greatest opportunity for influence is through health and housing success. Half of Mercy Housing residents participate in free onsite health and wellness programming.
- Our new national building design guidelines are aimed at creating healthy, safe, and accessible housing communities. All new communities will be built to showcase these industry-leading standards.
- Site-specific crisis intervention plans at all properties are in place to help meet the needs of residents in crisis. Staff are trained to address emergency-level threats to residents’ health and safety.
Climate and Resiliency
- In partnership with Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future, we conducted a climate risk assessment of all 342 of our communities. We are now engaged in resilience planning to address flood risks, heat waves, and other natural hazards.
- Since 2013, the impact of our sustainability initiatives equates to taking 2,900 gas vehicles off the road for a year or reducing water use by 300 Olympic-size swimming pools. We’ve also procured 2.8 Megawatts of solar energy.
- We are making progress toward our Better Climate Challenge commitment through the Department of Energy to reduce our carbon emissions 50% by 2030.
- 152 Mercy Housing properties have received green certifications.
| Staff Demographics | ||
 |
65% | BIPOC |
| 34% | White/caucasian | |
| 1% | Not disclosed | |
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- To ensure equitable and inclusive communities, we strive to ensure our employees’ demographics reflect the residents we serve.
- We launched a three-year strategic change initiative to advance racial equity in our recruitment, hiring, and retention practices.
- We are committed to using data to identify and address any racial disparities in the effectiveness of our service delivery.
- The loans we made through Mercy Community Capital to other affordable housing developers will provide housing for 4,200 residents, 60% of whom are likely to be BIPOC.
