Hillcrest Street Houses- An Affordable Home Ownership Opportunity
The Hillcrest Street Houses initiative will build 3 new affordable housing units in the Garfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Garfield is a majority African American and low-income community that faces the challenge of a rapidly developing community, gentrification, and rising housing costs. In recent years, the price of new homes in this area have increased significantly making home ownership in the area unattainable for the vast majority of its current residents. The Hillcrest Street Houses will be a source of affordable housing that seeks to stem the tide of unaffordability.
Click here for more information about FHLB Affordable housing programs
About the Houses
The Hillcrest houses are located at 5352-54-56 Hillcrest. There are three houses with 3+ bedrooms and approximately 1800sqft of living space in each unit. See the attached for a quick overview of the three units.
How to Understand if You May Qualify
The Hillcrest homes are an affordable home ownership project intended to help those with low to moderate incomes. As such, there are constraints on income. For more information about whether you might qualify for one of these homes, contact Open Hand Ministries at
412.924.1409
One of our staff will get back to you as quickly as they can.
The History of the Hillcrest Street Houses
Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation (BGC) envisioned using the three lots at 5352-54-56 Hillcrest St, Pittsburgh 15224, as part of their neighborhood community plans. Securing funding, they brought in Pfaffman & Associates to design the visionary project. Later, BGC included Open Hand Ministries (OHM) as a trusted partner to steward the project. OHM submitted a grant to the Federal Home Loan Bank Affordable Housing Program and was awarded a grant that covered a portion of the money needed to construct the three houses. OHM worked with the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh and received an additional grant that helped fund the bulk of the required monies.
Construction began on the site in December 2024 with an expected completion date of June 2025.
Our Partners
The houses were designed by the architecture firm of Pfaffmann and Associates, a local firm that has 13 years of experience in design and construction who has received numerous awards for its work, including two Silver Medals, the highest honor conferred by the American Institute of Architects. Our general contractor, Shape Construction also brings many years of experience in building homes for individuals, for-profit companies, and non-profit organizations.
The co-developer, Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation brings over 30 years of housing development and has been the steward of the community plan for Garfield. Their experience with the URA and City of Pittsburgh makes them an ideal partner for this work.
About Open Hand Ministries
Open Hand Ministries works with the residents of Garfield and surrounding communities to help them achieve financial wellness. We work to prepare our clients through financial education, credit repair, mortgage readiness, and mentoring. Our clients are mostly, single parent female headed households with multiple children. These clients face barriers to full-time employment and in many cases are survivors of the uncertainty of economic challenge. Many of these families have dealt with homelessness and medical fragility during the pandemic. These are the families who will benefit tremendously from affordable homeownership.
Learn More
If you are interested in learning more about Openhand Ministries, you can visit our website at:
For information on Family/Financial Development, click here
For information on our Construction Services, click here
