Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT) unveiled a new housing initiative as part of its five-year strategic plan focused on addressing one of North Texas’ most pressing challenges — affordable, equitable, and sustainable housing access.
During the CFT Housing Initiative event on Oct. 30, community leaders, housing advocates, and local organizations gathered to present collaborative strategies for expanding housing opportunities.
Wayne White, president and CEO of Communities Foundation of Texas, opened the program by emphasizing that “housing stability is the foundation for healthy, thriving communities.”
Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert spoke about the city’s continued focus on equitable development and community partnerships. Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux was also in attendance, underscoring the connection between stable housing, community safety, and neighborhood well-being.
A central announcement was the launch of House DTX, a collaborative network designed to strengthen the region’s housing ecosystem by uniting funders, advocates, planners, and community leaders to align strategies and elevate effective housing solutions across Dallas. The initiative will focus on increasing housing affordability, preserving existing housing stock, supporting mixed-income developments, and encouraging homeownership pathways for working families.
CFT outlined the goals for House DTX, including investing and leveraging more than $50 million in housing-related programs and partnerships over the next five years.
“We recognize that as the largest community foundation in Texas with a nearly 75-year history in North Texas, we have room to be bold. We believe, with the partnership of other foundations, fundholders, corporations, banks, policymakers, and community leaders, that we will match that investment, creating a $100 million Housing Impact Fund dedicated to lasting change,” White said.
Led by Nadine Dechausay of CFT, Cullum Clark of the Bush Institute, Ashley Brundage of Habitat for Humanity, Ashley Fores of Child Poverty Action Lab, Bryan Tony of the Dallas Housing Coalition, and Ruben Landa, Brian Keith, and Shane Phillips of the Greater Dallas Planning Council, House DTX will work to advance housing policy and practices. The alliance intends to release a housing scorecard next year that will track progress towards filling housing gaps and stabilizing housing stock.
“As part of CFT’s five-year strategic plan, we’re taking on a new initiative to increase our investments in housing, in alignment with our focus on health, wealth, living, and learning. Housing is a central challenge impacting each of these focus areas, and if we can’t address our local housing crisis, we can’t effectively meet our community’s needs,” said CFT Board Chair Connie Blass O’Neill.
CFT’s housing strategy focuses on three pillars: partnership and policy, preservation, and production.
In production, the foundation has committed grants and program-related investments to support projects such as WORKSHOP’s DreamBUILD housing system, which uses modular construction to build homes more efficiently; TEOF/LoMaX, a 21-unit residential project re-purposing shipping containers; and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, which has already helped create 249 rental units in Dallas and expects to produce nearly 3,000 units by 2028. Frazier Revitalization recently contributed the first two homes as part of the Dallas Community Land Trust.
White emphasized the long-term vision.
“Our goal is to support development that leads to economic mobility and shared prosperity. We understand that it will take more than five years to achieve our goals. This is the beginning of a long-term effort to address a challenge that impacts our neighbors, our future economic growth, and our city as a whole,” he said.
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