United Housing Foundation Files

The United Housing Foundation was founded in 1950 by the existing consumer cooperative housing organizations. Its purpose was to provide assistance to new groups of people who might wish to organize or join a cooperative. In order to maintain the organization, membership of labor unions and other non-profit groups that were interested in helping to provide better housing was encouraged. Investments from those groups, including the State Division of Housing, made moderate-cost housing possible.

The work that has been initiated and sponsored by the United Housing Foundation includes slum clearance and many redevelopment projects. By using private capital, they have been able to replace slum dwellings with moderately priced modern housing. During its first ten years, the United Housing Foundation initiated or sponsored housing cooperatives in New York City such as Seward Park Housing Corp., ILGWU Houses at Penn Station South, and Rochdale Village at the Jamaica Race Track. Rochdale Village is the largest cooperative sponsored by the United Housing Foundation with almost 6,000 housing units.