The Home Depot Foundation's Awards of Excellence for Affordable Housing Built Responsibly program is designed to identify, recognize, and showcase the outstanding and innovative work of nonprofit organizations in the area of design and mangement of affordable housing.

Projects submitted by nonprofit housing developers are evaluated according to affordability, creativity in addressing local housing needs, green building design and construction techniques, innovation in financing, quality of design and replicabilty.  Projects must have been developed by a 501(c)(3) organization and completed and placed in service between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009.  The foundation defines an affordable home as one for which a person making 80 percent or less of the area median income would spend 30 percent or less of their monthly income on mortgage or rent payments.

There are two award catagories, Homeownership and Rental.  The foundation awards up to five grants within each catagory - $75,000 to the winning project, $25,000 to the runner-up, and up to three honorable mention grants of $2,500 each.  The grants are to be used at the discretion of the nonprofit to further the goal of producing affordable, efficient, and healthy housing for low-income to moderate-income families.

Click here for more information