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Our work

Mercy Housing works to address the shortage of affordable housing across the country, guided by our core values of respect, justice, and mercy. Every day, we strive to achieve more because we are constructing more than just buildings — we are building communities. 


Founded by the Catholic sisters in 1981, strong leadership and a clear vision has taken Mercy Housing from a small Nebraska nonprofit with 310 units of affordable housing to having a presence in 45 states and Puerto Rico, and being named the nation’s top nonprofit affordable housing developer and owner by Affordable Housing Finance.

Playing pool at Colma Veterans Village, an affordable community for formerly homeless veterans

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Message from leadership

This report offers a glimpse into our daily efforts and highlights the profound impact your generosity has had on families, seniors, veterans, and individuals who have faced homelessness. Your unwavering dedication in 2023 has been instrumental in enabling us to mark many accomplishments including the opening of seven new affordable housing communities equipped with essential onsite services across the country. We were surprised and grateful to be one of the recipients of a gift from author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott at the end of the year. She donated $2.1 Billion to high performing organizations to support economic security, equity and health helping the most vulnerable persons in communities. We were humbled to receive $25 Million. This gift does not replace annual campaign dollars, but instead provides new funding to advance our most pressing priorities for long-term organizational resiliency and greater impact. I am excited to share that we are launching a new strategic business plan in 2024. Through an in-depth discovery and planning process, this plan will encompass four specific objectives that will allow us to continue to provide affordable, service-enriched housing for those most in need. From accolades and funding to resident-centric programming and collaborations, and the dedicated efforts of our 1,700-strong workforce, we acknowledge that our success is thanks to your invaluable partnership. We cannot do what we do without the generosity of your time, talent, and treasure. On behalf of the staff, board of trustees of Mercy Housing, and those we serve, thank you for supporting this important work. To provide a place to call home to over 45,000 people across the country, you need strong partnerships. We hope that you are impressed and humbled about all the work we’ve accomplished together.

Ismael Guererro
President & CEO

Patricia Cochran
Board Chair

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Board of Trustees

Patricia Cochran (Chair) 
VSP Vision Care (Retired)

Katherine Aguilar Perez
Cities Leader — Arup

JoAnn Bertges
Wells Fargo (Retired)

Barbara Busch, SC 
Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati

Tom Byers
Cedar River Group

Yvonne Camacho Simpson Housing (Retired)

Patricia Eck, CBS
Sisters of Bon Secours

Jane Gerety, RSM, PhD
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas

Charlie Francis

CommonSpirit Health (Retired)

Diane Hejna, CSJ
Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange

David Jackson
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Douglas Jutte, MD, MPH
Build Healthy Places Network

Barbara Kelley
Retired

Paul Neumann
Retired, Trinity Health

John Powell
Retired, Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital, LLC

Sam Ross, M.D.
Retired, Bon Secours Mercy Health

Founding Communities

Daughters of Charity, Province of St. Louise

Daughters of Charity, Province of the West 

Sisters of Bon Secours, USA 

Sisters of Mercy of the Americas 

Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange 

Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace

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