Housing Grant Program 

The 2025 Housing Grant Program competition is now open

The Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) and the WHEDA Foundation, Inc. are pleased to announce the 2025 Housing Grant Program competition. The Foundation will award $2,000,000 to assist in the development and improvement of housing facilities throughout our state that provide housing for people in crisis.

• The competition includes two separate housing categories: Emergency/Transitional housing and Permanent housing.
• Applicants may apply for grant funds in each category however they may only submit one application per category.
• The maximum individual grant award is $50,000. There is no minimum grant award and small funding requests are allowed.
• For flexibility in awarding grants to the "best of the best", more or less than 50% of the funds may be allocated to each category depending on the quality of applications. However, no category will be allocated less than 25% or more than 75% of the total pool.

Who Can Apply?

• Nonprofit organizations or cooperatives organized under Chapters 181, 185, or 187 of the Wisconsin Statutes
• Community development, redevelopment, and housing authorities
• Local units of government
• Native American Tribal authorities

Go to the 2025 Housing Grant Application

Please direct any questions to wheda.foundation@wheda.com. More information about the WHEDA Foundation Housing Grant Program can be found here.

Applicant Eligibility and Requirements

• Applicants must fall into one of the following organizational categories:
  • Nonprofit organizations or cooperatives organized under Chapters 181, 185, or 187 of the Wisconsin Statutes.
  • Community development, redevelopment, and housing authorities.
  • Local units of government.
  • Native American tribal authorities.
• Nonprofit organizations and cooperatives who are required to register with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) must be in good standing. Search your status on the Department of Financial Institutions website
• Grant recipients that received awards through the WHEDA Foundation Housing Grant Program competition consecutively in 2022, 2023 and 2024 are not eligible to apply for the 2025 WHEDA Foundation Housing Grant Program. An organization is eligible and welcome to apply again for a 2026 award.
• Applicants who have not submitted their final report from a prior housing grant program award and exceeded the 12-month timeframe allowed for projects to be completed will be ineligible for a 2025 grant award. An applicant is eligible for future grant awards once a final report is submitted. Please note this does not necessarily apply to 2025 grant award recipients. 

Examples of Eligible Uses of Grant Funds

• New construction
• Building acquisition
• Rehabilitation
• Handicapped accessibility improvements
• Conversions/additions to buildings or units
• Site acquisition and other development activities

Non-eligible uses of grant funds

• Market studies
• Feasibility studies
• Down payment assistance
• Ongoing project operating costs
• Housing-related services
• Nursing homes
• Vehicles or transportation services
• Costs incurred in the preparation of the 2025 Housing Grant Program Application
• Costs incurred prior to the 2025 Housing Grant Program award date

Historical Program Activity

Since the inception of the Housing Grant Program in 1985, the Foundation has granted funds to over 33% of total requests received. Below are the current statistics for all years since the program began.

*The Housing Grant Program is not available for personal home improvement projects or home buyer assistance.

For WHEDA's home buyer programs, please click here.