About The District Ledger

The District Ledger is an independent editorial publication explaining how community development, affordable housing and neighborhood finance work in the United States, with a particular focus on Washington DC. It publishes plain language guides for nonprofit staff and volunteers, policy and planning students, DC residents and housing advocates, and first time community developers.

What the publication covers

Four sections organize the material. Community development holds the foundations: what the field is, how neighborhood revitalization proceeds, and how community investment moves money into underserved places. Affordable housing covers definitions and eligibility, the financing of nonprofit housing projects, and supportive housing. Community finance explains CDFIs, loan funds, how community lenders differ from banks, and the loans themselves. Washington DC gathers the local programs, the history of community finance in the District, and help for veterans facing home repairs.

How the guides are written

Each guide is written from public sources: agency program pages, statutes, and the publications of the institutions described. Agencies, funds and lenders are described in the third person, because this publication lends nothing, sells nothing and represents no institution. Numbers are dated where they move with budgets, and readers are pointed to the official page wherever a rule or deadline decides a real application. Guides link to one another rather than repeating themselves, so a term is defined once, in the page that owns it.

What this publication does not do

The District Ledger does not lend money, take applications, operate programs or give legal or financial advice. A household looking for a unit, a loan or a repair grant should use the official links inside the relevant guide, where each program's own portal is named. Corrections and source suggestions are welcome by email, and the contact page explains what a useful message contains.

How to use the site

Readers with a specific question should start from the section that owns it, using the index at the top of each section page. Readers new to the field can follow the chain in order: what community development is, then what affordable housing is, then what a CDFI is. The legal notice for the site is on its own page.