About Charis

Charis Community Housing is a Christian community development ministry founded by Bob Lupton in 1980. We believe that many of the problems associated with economic poverty originated after we isolated the economically poor. We desire to break this isolation and create wholesome, viable, sustainable mixed-income communities of shalom.

While some community development organizations work metro-wide, we operate as a neighborhood-based ministry. The fabric of a community – the history, people, assets and culture – is unque. We want to strengthen and honor what God created and already is doing; therefore, we spend time learning the specifics of each neighborhood and dreaming with the local residents. Together we create a master redevelopment plan that fits their unque community. The master plan establishes our partnership and details how our work will fit into the larger goal of transforming the neighborhood.

While the master plan that guides our work changes with each new community, the core practices of Charis remain the same. We focus on one neighborhood at a time. We build affordable and workforce housing. We provide transitional housing. We facilitate the development of market-rate homes. We recruit strategic neighbors. We build intentional partnerships with churches, organizations, businesses, as well as city and county departments to help carry out the master redevelopment plans.