Quad Cities Community Foundation awards $300,000 to advance landmark affordable housing collaboration
Transformation Grant supports first large-scale, multi-agency effort for 25 new affordable units in central Davenport
The Quad Cities Community Foundation has awarded its 2025 Transformation Grant to the Quad Cities Housing Council in support of the region’s first large-scale, multi-agency affordable housing development initiative. The $300,000 grant will be distributed over three years.
Through the Silos to Solutions project, five leading housing organizations have joined forces to bring 25 new or rehabilitated rental and homeownership units to Davenport’s Central Community Circle. The project pairs housing development with supportive services, modeling a coordinated, neighborhood-focused approach to addressing the region’s growing housing crisis.
“Families are now the fastest-growing group entering homelessness for the first time in the region,” said Leslie Kilgannon, director of Quad Cities Housing Council. “Rising rents, limited supply, and high mortgage rates have pushed thousands of households to the brink. The challenge calls for big ideas and collaborative solutions.” She added that the Quad Cities faces a shortage of more than 6,000 affordable units.
“Affordable housing is a basic human need that has an impact on individuals and families, and our entire region,” said Sue Hafkemeyer, president and CEO of the Community Foundation. “What makes this project transformational is the scale of the collaboration. These partners are showing what becomes possible when we invest together in homes, stability, and stronger neighborhoods.”
Led by the Quad Cities Housing Council, the collaboration brings together Vera French Housing Corporation, Ecumenical Housing Development Group, Habitat for Humanity of the Quad Cities, Humility Homes and Services, and Rejuvenate Housing. Each organization will develop units within the project area—spanning Marquette to Harrison and Locust to 4th Street—using land and properties they already own.
“This crisis didn’t appear overnight, and we won’t solve it overnight,” said Kilgannon. “But we can choose action. Everyone deserves safe, secure housing, and this project is a significant step forward. It’s going to give us a foothold and build momentum as we work to improve housing solutions across the region. Affordable housing impacts everyone. It’s essential to a healthy, growing community and economy.”
Ten of the rental units will include permanent supportive housing, with Humility Homes and Services providing ongoing services for families and individuals facing the greatest housing barriers.
The Silos to Solutions project has been shaped through coordinated regional planning by the QC Housing Council and supported by recent Fair Housing and Needs Assessments. Grounded in proven best practices, the project represents a unified, scalable strategy to expand affordable and supportive housing across the Quad Cities.
“This is the first time so many of the region’s major affordable housing agencies have come together on a single project,” said Kelly Thompson, vice president of grantmaking and community initiatives at the Community Foundation. “It’s a blueprint for how the Quad Cities can meet housing needs with collaboration, innovation, and compassion.”
To build on the momentum of this project, the Community Foundation has opened a fund for donors to contribute directly to the QC Housing Council’s ongoing work. Gifts can be made here.