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Disability Opportunity Fund
The Disability Opportunity Fund was founded in 2007 by Charles D. Hammerman, a former Merrill Lynch executive, alongside Co-Founder Nanci B. Freiman.
Disability Opportunity Fund
The Disability Opportunity Fund was founded in 2007 by Charles D. Hammerman, a former Merrill Lynch executive, alongside Co-Founder Nanci B. Freiman. Hammerman's earlier work with the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University shaped the firm's thesis: that specialized housing for people with disabilities represents both a civil rights imperative and a deeply underserved asset class. DOF became a Nationally Certified CDFI, targeting the intersection of accessible housing, supportive services, and community infrastructure. DOF operates a flexible mandate spanning direct real estate acquisition, development, and lending. The portfolio includes Sara's Apartments across Long Island, New York and Long Beach, California; The Schoolhouse Hotel, a converted school building in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia; and residential assets like Luna Azul in Phoenix and Woodside Court in Norfolk, Virginia. Co-investors and credit partners include Cardinal Capital Management, which collaborates on special needs multifamily developments, and the Rockefeller Foundation, which provided a $750,000 senior unsecured debt investment. Google supplied a $5 million loan through its Grow with Google Small Business Fund, reflecting the dual nature of DOF's capital stack: institutional credit layered over philanthropic subsidy. Total deployment sits in the low tens of millions, with no publicly reported firm-wide AUM. The team is anchored by Hammerman and Freiman, supported by an advisory ecosystem that includes the Opportunity Finance Network and the CDFI Coalition. Hammerman chairs the National Disability Finance Coalition, reinforcing DOF's role as a policy-aware originator. The firm maintains a related philanthropic vehicle, DOF Cares, alongside The Disability Fund, Inc., both structured to channel grants toward disability-forward housing initiatives. What distinguishes DOF from a conventional impact fund is its CDFI designation. That regulatory structure requires it to direct at least 60% of financing activities to low-income or underserved communities, making the institution accountable to a federal mission test rather than a limited-partner return clock. This architecture allows DOF to hold onto properties like The Schoolhouse Hotel — a commercial asset in Appalachia — for social outcomes rather than cap-rate compression, while still recycling capital through its lending portfolio.
General information
Firm type
Endowment / Foundation
Year founded
2007
AUM
$10M - $49M (Altss estimate)
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Rockville Centre
Corporate office
Rockville Centre, NY, United States
Principals
Charles D. Hammerman
President and CEO
Nanci B. Freiman
Co-Founder and Director of Administration
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who makes investment decisions at the Disability Opportunity Fund?
Charles D. Hammerman, as President and CEO, leads investment decisions. He founded the organization after a career at Merrill Lynch and his tenure as Managing Director of the Burton Blatt Institute. Co-Founder and Director of Administration Nanci B. Freiman oversees organizational operations.
Is the Disability Opportunity Fund a single-family office or a foundation?
It is neither a family office nor a private foundation. The firm is a Nationally Certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), a designation from the U.S. Treasury Department that mandates a primary mission of community development. It incorporates a separate philanthropic arm, DOF Cares, but the parent operates as a regulated lending and real estate entity.
What type of capital does the firm deploy?
DOF provides debt in the form of direct loans and also acquires and develops real estate. The balance sheet includes senior unsecured debt from mission-aligned institutions like the Rockefeller Foundation and the Google Small Business Fund. On the equity side, it owns and operates residential and commercial properties such as The Schoolhouse Hotel in West Virginia and Sara's Apartments in New York and California.
Does the firm co-invest with external partners?
Yes, DOF partners with both non-profit and for-profit entities. Cardinal Capital Management has collaborated on developing special needs multifamily housing units. Impact-oriented funders like the Rockefeller Foundation and Google provide organizational-level debt rather than project-specific equity, creating a blended capital model.
What geographies does the Disability Opportunity Fund target?
The firm operates throughout the United States, with disclosed real estate holdings concentrated in New York, Connecticut, California, Arizona, Virginia, and West Virginia. Its lending portfolio is national in scope, tied to its CDFI mandate to serve under-resourced communities wherever accessible housing gaps exist.
How does DOF's CDFI status shape its investment activity?
As a CDFI, DOF is required to direct at least 60% of its financing to low-income or underserved populations. This federal charter imposes a durable mission lock, meaning the firm does not optimize for market-rate returns. Instead, it measures performance against social outcomes in disability housing while maintaining asset quality sufficient to recycle capital into new loans.
What is Charles Hammerman's professional background?
Before founding DOF in 2007, Charles Hammerman worked as an executive at Merrill Lynch and served as Founder and Managing Director of the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University. The Blatt Institute's focus on disability rights and policy directly informed DOF's mission to combine financial structuring with fair-housing advocacy. His brother, Ira Hammerman, serves as Executive VP and General Counsel for SIFMA.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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