Press & Media Kit

Resources for journalists, editors, and producers covering the Amarnath Foundation, naturally occurring affordable housing preservation, or central Indiana housing.

Fact sheet

One-paragraph description

The Amarnath Foundation is a 501(c)(3) Private Operating Foundation that preserves naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH) in central Indiana. The foundation acquires older small multifamily buildings in distressed Rust-Belt cities — Anderson and Muncie — and operates them as a long-term, mission-aligned owner, keeping rents below the HUD-affordable threshold for each county. The model isn't subsidy-dependent and isn't glamorous: renew leases in place, make repairs, keep families housed.

Founder bio

Bharath Ramanidharan is the founder and Executive Director of the Amarnath Foundation. He spent more than two decades in technology and corporate engineering before turning his attention to the housing-preservation problem visible in distressed Midwest neighborhoods. Bharath holds engineering degrees from Amrita University (India) and The University of Texas at Dallas. He personally underwrites the foundation's BMR units and lives with his family in San Jose, California.

Story angles

• The disappearing NOAH market. Naturally occurring affordable housing is the largest source of unsubsidized affordable housing in America — and it's being acquired and rent-raised faster than subsidized housing can be built.
• The tech-founder-turned-housing-operator. Bharath's path from corporate engineering to small-multifamily preservation in Indiana — why he chose the Rust Belt over coastal markets.
• The Private Operating Foundation model. A relatively rare 501(c)(3) classification — what it means, why it fits housing preservation, and how it differs from a CDFI or LIHTC developer.
• Anderson and Muncie's housing-affordability crisis. Local angles for Indiana media: rent-burden statistics in Madison and Delaware Counties, market dynamics in cities the national press doesn't usually cover.
• One family's story (with permission pending). A multi-year tenancy at our flagship Anderson property — what stable housing actually looks like in practice.

Sample sound bites

Multi-year tenancy is the actual measure of housing preservation. We don't sell to maximize return — we renew in place.

HUD's affordability threshold for our counties is roughly $1,000 a month at 80% AMI. Our rents range $550 to $750. Tenants keep more income for food, transportation, and savings.

The Rust Belt has the housing the coasts wish they had — older small multifamily buildings still affordable enough for a small mission-aligned operator to acquire. The window won't stay open.

Brand assets

Verification & transparency

The Foundation's IRS Letter 947 (501(c)(3) determination) and Delaware Certificate of Incorporation are available on request. The Foundation will be listed on Candid (formerly GuideStar) following the upload of our IRS determination letter and will publish Form 990-PF after our first full fiscal year.