Minority Enterprise Backer Louis Winnick, 85

Louis Winnick, 85, an economist who helped guide the investments of the Ford Foundation and promoted low-income home ownership, died July 29 at a hospice in Manhasset, Long Island.

He had mesothelioma, a type of lung cancer that his daughter Pamela Winnick attributed to exposure to asbestos when he worked in the Brooklyn Navy Yard during World War II.

Mr. Winnick was born in Romania and came to Brooklyn when he was 1 year old. He graduated from Brooklyn College and received a graduate degree in economics from Columbia University.

He worked for New York City's Planning Commission and Housing and Redevelopment Board before joining the Ford Foundation in 1962. He served as deputy vice president in the national affairs division from 1968 to 1986.

After the turbulence of the late 1960s, Mr. Winnick played a major role in the foundation's effort to channel resources into housing, community renewal and minority enterprise. He was credited with steering the foundation toward making low-interest loans and equity investments in low-income urban areas. Ford, like other foundations, had previously focused on grants only, believing that investing and philanthropy should be separate.

Mr. Winnick also promoted the idea that with properly structured loans, low-income home buyers could be reliable borrowers. A demonstration loan project in Pittsburgh spurred mortgage lending in poor neighborhoods across the nation.

Mr. Winnick wrote many articles for academic journals, magazines and newspapers. His book, "New People in Old Neighborhoods," published in 1990 by Russell Sage, made the case for the value of a constant flow of new immigrants into urban neighborhoods.

Survivors include his wife, Wilma; two daughters; and two grandchildren.