$100 million invested in Columbus-based low-income housing company

The National Affordable Housing Trust, a Columbus company that finances low-income housing nationwide, has received $100 million to build more than 1,000 apartments, none of them in the Columbus area.

The investment came from UnitedHealth Group of Minnesota and is the latest installment of $500 million the insurance company has invested in affordable housing.

UnitedHealth also is donating $1 million to study the impact of stable, affordable housing on the physical and mental health of residents of the homes built with the $100 million.

“The connection between housing and health is undeniable, and the COVID-19 pandemic has increasingly brought this further to the forefront,” said Heather Cianfrocco, CEO of UnitedHealthcare Community & State.

Lori Little, CEO of the National Affordable Housing Trust, said the $1 million will be spent on surveying residents about their health care.

“We’re going to be asking residents key questions about their health. Do you have a primary care physician? Food insecurity issues?”

The results will be compared with those from people lacking access to stable, affordable housing.

“We want to learn what impact a stable home can have on their lives, what opportunity that can give them,” Little said.

The Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future, a coalition of 13 affordable-housing developers, will administer the study, which Little said will be completed in 2025.

The National Affordable Housing Trust, founded in 1986, finances low-income housing through private investors and federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits.

It will use the $100 million to build more than 1,000 apartments, starting with three redevelopment projects: 100 apartments in Washington, D.C., developed by The NHP Foundation; 40 apartments in Wharton, Texas, developed by National Church Residences of Upper Arlington; and 30 apartments in Choctaw, Oklahoma, developed by Volunteers of America.

jweiker@dispatch.com

@JimWeiker