It has been years since I've posted on worthy charities, and I wanted to add to that. As affordable housing is often a concern, I think Habitat for Humanity has earned a good reputation for their work in this field. Beyond that, they have a pattern worth re-using for other needs as well.
One of the problems with "charity" is that it has come to mean money, where originally it meant love. There are people who have problems with money; very often they would benefit from the investment of someone's time and compassion.
Of the different approaches to affordable housing, one of the notable successes has been Habitat for Humanity. They are one of the few groups that recognize the problem is not simply financial. The transition from renter to homeowner often involves missing skills, missing habits of responsibility and accountability; Habitat for Humanity actively addresses these gaps. Their model of helping involves the new homeowners in ways that build the peoples' missing skills and the often-missing sense of value and accomplishment. The perception that the new homeowners are co-workers, participants in society, is a different feeling than being recipients of "charity" (money). By design, they are receiving human involvement.
As necessary as money is in the modern economy, it seems to be the case that human involvement (love) is more transformative than money.
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