SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 18, 2026--
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) today launched a nationwide challenge to uncover scalable, innovative housing solutions designed to help more people find homes across the country. Managed by Enterprise Community Partners, a leading national housing nonprofit, the 2026 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge will award $10 million in grants across five organizations, along with technical assistance, one‑on‑one industry mentorship, and participation in national peer learning. Since 2019, Wells Fargo has contributed more than $53 million in philanthropic funding to support the Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge. Applications open April 1, 2026, through May 15, 2026.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260318441239/en/
“For most families, housing is the single biggest expense, and rising costs are making it tough to find or keep a home,” said Darlene Goins, head of Philanthropy and Community Impact at Wells Fargo. “The Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge is about surfacing creative, practical ideas from nonprofits and companies that we can scale to more people and more communities. If we’re going to expand housing access and affordability, we have to be willing to reimagine what can work.”
Since 2019, Wells Fargo & Company and the Wells Fargo Foundation have made more than $830 million in philanthropic investments nationwide to help keep people housed, expand housing inventory, and increase access to affordable homes.
The Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge aims to transform housing through innovations in design and construction, financing, and resident services. Past winners have piloted scalable modular housing systems, new underwriting models, and groundbreaking programs supporting reentry housing, tribal homeownership, and rural community development, among other efforts.
“We’re incredibly grateful for Wells Fargo’s enduring leadership in advancing housing solutions. We’ve seen firsthand how the Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge can accelerate promising models that increase affordability, access, and economic opportunity,” said Shaun Donovan, Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Community Partners. “This year’s competition will support innovations across rural, urban, and tribal communities that are demonstrating tangible results and are ready to scale their impact.”
Criteria for the 2026 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge
This year’s Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge will consider applicants proposing solutions across three categories: Design & Construction, Finance, and Service & Delivery Programs. While there is no predetermined number of winners per focus area, applicants must demonstrate existing results, an evidence base for their proposals, and a strategy to scale their innovations. Five winning organizations each will be awarded $2 million in grants. Eligibility is subject to the full criteria, which nonprofit and for-profit organizations are encouraged to review.
Find more information on the 2026 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge and application details.
About Enterprise Community Partners
Enterprise Community Partners is a national nonprofit that exists to make a good home possible for the millions of families without one. We support community development organizations on the ground, aggregate and invest capital for impact, advance housing policy at every level of government, and build and manage communities ourselves. Since 1982, we have invested $80.9 billion and created 1 million homes across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands — all to make home and community places of pride, power, and belonging.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a leading financial services company that has approximately $2.1 trillion in assets, providing a diversified set of banking, investment and mortgage products and services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through our four reportable operating segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth & Investment Management. Wells Fargo ranked No. 33 on Fortune’s 2025 rankings of America’s largest corporations. News, insights, and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories.
Additional information may be found at www.wellsfargo.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wellsfargo
News Release Category: WF-PESG
Wells Fargo launches national search for housing solutions (Photo: Wells Fargo)
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. (AP) — President Donald Trump is paying his respects on Wednesday at a Delaware military base as the remains of six U.S. service members killed in the crash of a refueling aircraft are returned to their families.
It will be the second time since launching the war with Iran on Feb. 28 that the Republican president will attend the solemn military ritual known as a dignified transfer, which he once described as the “toughest thing” he has had to do as commander in chief.
Upon landing in Dover, Trump was greeted on the tarmac by Col. Jamil Musa, Commander, 436th Airlift Wing, Dover Air Force Base, and Col Martha “Jeannie” Sasnett Commander, Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations, Dover Air Force Base and headed to the ceremony — which was closed to the press.
All six crew members of a KC-135 Air Force refueling aircraft were killed last week in a plane crash over friendly territory in western Iraq while supporting operations against Iran. They were from Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Washington state.
“Every person on that aircraft carried a weight most Americans will never see, and they carried it with professionalism, courage, and a level of quiet excellence that deserves to be recognized,” retired Lt. Col Ernesto Nisperos, a friend of one of those killed, said in a text message Wednesday.
The crash brought the U.S. death toll in Operation Epic Fury to at least 13 service members. About 200 U.S. service members have been injured, including 10 severely, the Pentagon has said.
Trump last traveled to Dover Air Force Base on March 7 for the dignified transfer of six U.S. service members who were killed by a drone strike at a command center in Kuwait. He saluted as flag-draped transfer cases containing the remains of the fallen service members were carried from military aircraft to vehicles waiting to take them to the base's mortuary facility to prepare them for their final resting place.
“It's the bad part of war,” he told reporters afterward. Asked then if he worried about having to make multiple trips to the base for additional dignified transfers as the war continued, he said, “I'm sure. I hate to do it, but it's a part of war, isn't it?”
U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said that the crash followed an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in “friendly airspace” over Iraq but that the loss of the aircraft during a combat mission was “not due to hostile or friendly fire.” The circumstances were under investigation. The other plane landed safely.
The crash killed three people assigned to the 6th Air Refueling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida: Maj. John A. “Alex” Klinner, 33, who served in Birmingham, Alabama; Capt. Ariana Linse Savino, 31, of Covington, Washington; and Tech. Sgt. Ashley Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Kentucky.
Klinner, who left behind a wife, a 2-year-old son and 7-month-old twins, was known for his steady command and goofy nature, as well as a willingness to help others. Pruitt’s husband described her as a “radiant” woman who lit up the room. Savino was a friend, mentee and “source of positive energy” who was proud of her Puerto Rican heritage and inspired young Latinas, said Nisperos, who is serving as spokesman for her family.
“She had had this warmth that made you feel seen, a strength that showed up in everything she touched, and a spark — that spice — that made her unforgettable,” Nisperos said. “If you knew her, even for a moment, you knew you were in the presence of someone who was going to change the world.”
The three others were assigned to the 121st Air Refueling Wing at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus, Ohio: Capt. Seth Koval, 38, a resident of Stoutsville, Ohio, who was from Mooresville, Indiana; Capt. Curtis Angst, 30, who lived in Columbus; and Master Sgt. Tyler Simmons, 28, of Columbus.
Koval grew up dreaming of becoming a pilot, according to his wife, who described him as a loving, generous “fixer of all things.” Angst’s family said his life was defined by service, generosity and “a genuine love for people.” Simmons loved confiding in his 85-year-old grandmother and working out with her, Sen. Jon Husted said Tuesday, when he and Sen. Bernie Moreno honored the Ohio airmen on the Senate floor.
“To the mom and dad of these three young soldiers, I can’t even process what you’re going through. I can’t even imagine the emotions that you’re feeling,” Moreno said. “Just know that America is grateful beyond words for the sacrifice that your heroic young sons made.”
Associated Press writers Holly Ramer in Concord, N.H., and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he walks to depart on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
This image provided by the Ohio National Guard shows Tech Sgt. Tyler Simmons. (Ohio National Guard via AP)
This image provided by the Ohio National Guard shows Capt. Seth R. Koval. (Ohio National Guard via AP)
This image provided by the Ohio National Guard shows Capt. Curtis J. Angst. (Ohio National Guard via AP)
FILE - A U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker refueling tanker aircraft takes off from the Kadena Air Base airfield in Kadena town, west of Okinawa, southern Japan, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump salutes as an Army carry team moves a flag-draped transfer case with the remains of Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, who was killed in a drone strike at a command center in Kuwait after the U.S. and Israel launched its military campaign against Iran, during a casualty return, March 7, 2026, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
President Donald Trump steps off Air Force One, Saturday, March 7, 2026, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
