How the Community’s Endowment is Impacting Affordable Housing in Lancaster County
Lancaster County is an extraordinary place to live. Tight knit neighborhoods, vibrant towns, and diverse cultures are what make our community special, and they’re some of the reasons why so many choose to build a life here.
We know that having access to a safe home is central to building a prosperous life and a thriving community. We have also seen the gap between rent and wages get wider in recent years. In fact, the median rent price in Lancaster County has increased by 36% since 2018, and our community now faces an affordable housing crisis. For every 100 extremely low-income families, seniors, and people with disabilities renting in Lancaster County, only 23 affordable rental homes are available. (1)
Increasing access to affordable housing is one of the most cost-effective ways to also increase access to healthcare, food, and education, while reducing childhood poverty and bolstering an entire community’s economic growth and racial equity (2).
In other words, when we invest in affordable housing and meet the needs of our unhoused neighbors, we all benefit.
The role of the Community Foundation is to harness the power of the community’s endowment to help shape a future where everybody has an opportunity to thrive. For more than 100 years, we have worked with people committed to caring for Lancaster County to meet immediate needs and create lasting impact. With this in mind, our team has collaborated with many local partners to support a variety of current and forward-focused housing initiatives.
The Katherine Gaeth Fund was established to support human services that improve life for Lancaster County residents. Since 2022, grants from this fund have primarily impacted the community through housing, specifically by supporting the renovation of 30 homes with Lancaster Lebanon Habitat for Humanity, and by working with Bethany Christian Services to close a funding gap and secure homes for refugees settling in Paradise. Last year, the Katherine Gaeth Fund took an even sharper focus and will now supplement grants made by the Lancaster County Homelessness Coalition.

Construction at the HDC MidAtlantic College Ave. project
The I Love Lancaster Fund, our most flexible and responsive endowed fund, makes it possible to invest in emerging opportunities like HDC Mid-Atlantic’s College Avenue Affordable Housing Project at the former St. Joseph’s Hospital in Lancaster. In 2023, $100,000 was granted to support Phase 1 of the development of the first new construction affordable housing community in Lancaster since 1996. Additionally, in 2024, $50,000 from this fund was focused on helping the Lancaster County Housing and Redevelopment Authority hire street outreach staff to better serve unhoused individuals in our community.
As affordable housing becomes more difficult to find, there has been an increased need for low-barrier shelters in Lancaster that provide safe, temporary places to sleep and shower. In 2022, the John J. Snyder Historic Preservation Fund granted $105,000 to help restore and preserve Tenfold’s TLC Shelter in the historic Hotel Weber, a 52 unit building that provides temporary housing and supportive services for families and individuals experiencing homelessness. In 2025, $25,000 was granted in support of the opening of the new Clay Street Low-Barrier Emergency Shelter.

Rendering of the completed TLC Shelter restoration
We are honored that the community’s endowment could be focused on such a wide variety of transformational housing projects throughout Lancaster County. From the grants we award to the free resources we make available, we are committed to partnering with donors who have a passion to help and community benefit organizations on the frontlines to meet the needs of today and shape a more resilient, vibrant, and inclusive shared future.
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