More than $1 trillion in Multifamily funding over the years — that’s a number to be proud of … a monumental milestone! There’s no way you achieve this without expert innovation, problem-solving, focus and grit wrapped in alignment, accountability and collaboration.

Yet when it comes to what counts, it’s so much more than just the numbers. This $1 trillion … it's enormous. But for me, it feels even more monumental, or at least more meaningful, when I go small — when I think of the individual communities and the people who live there, whose lives we’ve helped change. 

You really feel this when you’re out on the road, seeing where and how we’ve helped make home possible. In 2024, our team collectively crisscrossed the country, visiting places far and wide — from an urban neighborhood in New York City’s Harlem to a rural tribal community near Mille Lacs Lake, Minnesota. 

Ask our folks what struck them on their travels, and you’ll hear stories like these: Meeting a 21-year-old man who aged out of foster care without any family, after growing up in no less than 17 different foster care placements, and seeing the Wayne Place II D.C. housing community he’s now a part of ... talking with the gardener there who teaches residents to grow roses, harvest squash and plums, and even cultivate grapes in the property’s courtyard. Having the sponsor show you their roof rainwater collection system that keeps costs down and allows them to donate much of the food they grow to other D.C. residents. 

  • Wayne Place II Garden

    The garden at the D.C. transitional housing property for youth who’ve aged out of foster care.

  • Certified Wildlife Habitat sign
  • Roses in the wildlife garden
  • Gardener from Wayne Place II

    The gardener at Wayne Place II D.C.

  • Plums from the garden

    Plums at the property gardens

  • Squash in the garden

    Squash at the property gardens

For me, it was a trip to the Red Willow Estates in tiny, rural Onamia, Minnesota near the beautiful Mille Lacs Lake — and home to the Ojibwe people. I know I thought of this investment as small in scale, yet on arrival, we met with a tribal community representative and saw first-hand how big it was: how important new, quality rental housing means for the residents and their families. Creating hope where hope is so very hard to come by.

  • Red Willow Estates sign

    Red Willow Estates neighborhood sign

  • visiting red willow estates

    With Peter Lillestolen, vice president of Targeted Affordable Housing, at Red Willow Estates

  • community playground

    Community playground

  • red willow estates property

    One of the properties at Red Willow Estates

As we wrap up the year, and get both a little retrospective and introspective, I’d like to thank all of you, our lenders and servicers, as well as our sponsors and their community partners — all those who make home possible — for giving meaning to what has been an extraordinary year in Multifamily. 

I’ll be sharing our 2024 results/accomplishments in early January. In the meantime, I hope all of you have a wonderful and restful holiday season. Let’s start strong in 2025!