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The Office of Governor Wes Moore

Moore-Miller Administration’s Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Initiative Receives National Award for Program Excellence

Press Release |
Updated:

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Moore today announced that the Department of Housing and Community Development’s Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Initiative (BVRI) has received a national award for program excellence in Homeownership: Home Improvement and Rehabilitation from the National Council of State Housing Agencies. The program, established through the governor's 2024 Reinvest Baltimore executive order, is helping transform vacant properties into opportunities for homeownership and neighborhood revitalization across Baltimore.

“Every Marylander deserves an affordable, accessible, quality place to call home,” said Gov. Moore. “Through Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Initiative we are giving old properties new life to tackle the affordable housing crisis. I am pleased that our efforts were recognized by the National Council of State Housing Agencies, as we continue to think creatively and build communities for Marylanders to thrive." 

The award was announced at the National Council of State Housing Agencies’ 2026 Annual Conference in Detroit, Michigan. Secretary Day was present to accept the award.

The Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Initiative was one of four finalists for the Homeownership: Home Improvement and Rehabilitation award, alongside programs from New Mexico, Illinois and Michigan. Program entries were judged on the degree to which they are innovative, respond to an important state housing need, demonstrate effective use of resources, and other criteria to evaluate the program’s impact and benefit to underserved markets.

Through a collaborative and mutually accountable partnership among the Department, the City of Baltimore, the Maryland Stadium Authority, the Maryland Community Investment Corporation (MCIC), and Baltimore City-based nonprofit community development organizations (CDOs), the State of Maryland strategically deploys $50 million annually through the Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Initiative (BVRI) to acquire, demolish, stabilize, and renovate vacant properties. 

The program’s innovative model concentrates investment in the city-designated Vacancy Reduction Priority Geographies – neighborhoods with the highest concentrations of vacant property – where flexible capital, strong public-private partnership, and effective whole-block strategies can help repair housing markets in Baltimore communities. Since the Reinvest Baltimore executive order was signed in October 2024, public and private investments have supported the abatement of 2,836 vacant building notices.

“We’re immensely proud that the Department’s innovative approach to creating pathways to homeownership and work, wages and wealth in Baltimore is being recognized on a national level,” said Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Jake Day. “Through the Reinvest Baltimore executive order, Governor Wes Moore has charged us with finding solutions to eliminate concentrations of vacant properties and revitalize whole blocks – and to measure that success by real, tangible change at the neighborhood level. The Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Initiative is the financial engine that drives that work and fuels the partnership with city, state, local, private and nonprofit partners to get it done. Thank you to the National Council of State Housing Agencies for this recognition.”

The National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization created to advance, through advocacy and education, the efforts of the nation’s state housing finance agencies and their partners to provide affordable housing to those who need it. The NCSHA Annual Awards aim to celebrate innovators in the affordable housing industry and educate agency peers, Congress, the federal administration, and media about the work of housing finance agencies to provide affordable housing. The Annual Awards include seven core categories: Advocacy, Communications, Homeownership, Management Innovation, Rental Housing, Special Achievement and Special Needs Housing.

“As housing affordability continues to weigh heavily on American families, this year’s awards demonstrate state housing finance agencies are working harder and more creatively than ever to tackle the problem and its root causes,” said NCSHA Executive Director Stockton Williams.

For more information on the Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Initiative and how state, local, private and nonprofit partners are working to eliminate vacant properties in Baltimore City, visit the Department’s Reinvest Baltimore webpage.

The Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Initiative is a key aspect of the Moore-Miller Administration’s actions to advance new solutions to Maryland’s housing shortage and create more opportunities for people, families, and communities to thrive. Earlier this month, the governor signed two executive orders to accelerate the use of more cost-efficient construction techniques, build a workforce ready to meet the state’s urgent housing needs, and reform permitting, licensing and certification, so stalled projects can move forward.

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