Mound City Fund makes charitable grants that help low- to moderate-income homeowners bring vacant and deteriorated homes back to life in underserved neighborhoods across St. Louis City and County.
A vacant home is not a neutral asset waiting for a buyer. It is an ongoing expense borne by the whole community, and in St. Louis the bill has been quantified.
In many underserved neighborhoods across St. Louis City and County, the cost to rehabilitate a home exceeds its appraised value after the work is done. Lenders cannot underwrite loans against value the market does not yet recognize, and families cannot absorb the shortfall themselves. The result is a market failure: willing owners, viable structures, and no financing path. Read the full economic case.
Grants cover up to 20% of qualified redevelopment costs, closing part of the appraisal gap and reducing how much an owner must borrow and pay out of pocket.
Covering up to 20% of qualified redevelopment costs, every donated dollar can mobilize an estimated four to five dollars of owner and lender investment. Donor capital is the smallest slice of each project and the decisive one.
The grant reduces loan principal and monthly debt service, converting a property from a liability into an appreciating, insurable, borrowable asset, the primary vehicle of family wealth building.
St. Louis already has innovative loan products, city repair programs, and a public stabilization program for city-owned buildings. What the ecosystem lacks is the layer beneath them: grant capital at the bottom of the capital stack. A Mound City Fund grant can shrink the second mortgage a Gateway Neighborhood Fund borrower needs, supply the rehab capital a Prop NS purchaser cannot borrow, and complement the repair work of programs like Healthy Home Repair and Rebuilding Together St. Louis. We actively coordinate with lenders, agencies, and community organizations, and we welcome referrals from all of them.
The Fund publishes its program guidelines and governing policies so that every applicant, donor, and partner knows exactly how decisions are made and how donated dollars are protected.