WF Special Grants
Initiated in 2025, these grants are designed to fuel purposeful partnerships by uniting organizations and communities to confront pressing issues head-on, and turning shared vision into meaningful impact.
The Women’s Fund awarded a special grant to Housing Resources Inc in support of expanded homeownership services for women and families in our community.
WF Special Grant 2026
The Women’s Fund invests in Housing Resources Inc.
For more than 30 years, Housing Resources Inc. (HRI) has prepared Milwaukee-area residents for sustainable homeownership and long-term financial stability. The Women’s Fund is proud to support that work.
Founded in 1991 as a minority-run nonprofit, HRI was built on a focused premise: specialize in homebuyer education rather than spreading resources thin. That focus has held and grown. HRI now serves three metro areas across southeastern Wisconsin, providing home buyer education, one-on-one counseling, grant assistance, financial empowerment services, and foreclosure prevention.
HRI is a NeighborWorks® America organization and a HUD-approved housing counseling agency, serving Milwaukee, Racine, and Waukesha.
“We’re thrilled and deeply grateful for this investment in expanded homeownership services. This support helps more individuals and families build financial confidence, navigate the path to homeownership, and create lasting stability for generations to come.”
Trena Bond, executive director
1,335
BUYERS EDUCATED IN 2024
332
HOMES PURCHASED IN 2024
$55.7m
TOTAL MORTGAGE LOANS
72%
OF CLIENTS IDENTIFY AS WOMEN
About the Grant
In ecology, a keystone species is the one that holds an entire ecosystem together, remove it and everything begins to collapse. We believe housing is that keystone in the lives of the women and families. Without it, employment is precarious, children’s schooling is disrupted, health suffers, and safety is out of reach.
Secure housing is more than one need among many; it is the condition that makes all other progress and achievement possible.
Why It Matters
Homeownership is one of the most powerful pathways to long-term financial security. For women, and particularly for women of color, access to that pathway has never been guaranteed. Structural barriers in lending, credit, and financial education have kept generational wealth out of reach for too many families in our community.
HRI’s 2024 data makes the connection clear: 72% of the people they serve are women, and 65% identify as African American. Nearly 80% earn at or below 80% of area median income. This is direct, demonstrated impact in the communities where the Women’s Fund invests.
By investing in HRI, we are ensuring that the path to homeownership is a real option for the women and families who need it most. Closing gender equity gaps requires closing economic ones. This grant is part of that work.