In 2022, three decades after residents in Midcoast Maine discovered that a local family was living in the hollow of a bridge over the Sheepscot River, the Genesis Fund turned 30.

We celebrated the members of four local church congregations who were drawn together by the conviction that safe, stable housing is the cornerstone of vibrant, thriving communities. The Genesis Fund was born when these faith communities joined to provide the seed capital for a pooled loan fund that ultimately helped finance 13 new affordable, energy-efficient homes in Bremen.

Much has changed since the early 1990s, when Genesis loans were made from our founding director’s kitchen table.

By the time Genesis turned 30 in 1992, we had delivered $80 million in financing to more than 300 housing and community facility projects throughout Maine and in New Hampshire. We had supported hundreds of local nonprofits with thousands of hours of specialized guidance to turn their housing and community development ideas into reality.

The challenges we face today are different than those encountered by our founders, but the ideas, principles and approach guiding our work are remarkably aligned with theirs. Creativity. Collaboration. Focus. Kindness.

And, above all, using our tools of capital and expertise to achieve concrete, mission-driven impacts for the benefit of people and places overcoming barriers to prosperity—barriers to health and stability.

We are grateful for the gift of our founding principles, as we go forward at age 30 and older, to:

• Keep rental housing and home-ownership affordable, including in rural and island communities.
• Steer resources to solutions that address homelessness.
• Support housing for Maine’s workforce and for older adults on fixed incomes.
• Make home-ownership in Maine a reality for some of America’s newest immigrants.
• Expand options that create housing with supportive services.
• Strengthen equity- and wealth-building in Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities.

With our partners, will continue to build bridges to a future with vibrant, resilient, and equitable communities where people can thrive, feel connected to each other, and enjoy shared assets that benefit all.