Leveraging Community-Based Media to Promote Equitable Homeownership
A Q&A with Lynnette McRae and Lauren Woods Black and Latinx Chicagoans face a myriad of challenges in accessing homeownership. These include a…
Connecting Capital and Community (3C)
3C Chicago is a place-based initiative that brings together residents, community organizations, lenders, developers, and cross-sector partners to strengthen neighborhood stability in East Garfield Park and Humboldt Park through coordinated investments and sustainable homeownership opportunities.
Photo Credit: Eddie Quinones.
Building Community Wealth Through Homeownership
In many long-underinvested communities experiencing gentrification, rising costs are making it increasingly difficult for long-term residents to remain. With a current focus on East Garfield Park and Humboldt Park, 3C seeks to strengthen neighborhood stability by expanding access to sustainable homeownership opportunities for residents in historically underinvested Chicago communities. 3C identified East Garfield Park and Humboldt Park as pilot neighborhoods because of their strong community leadership, shared commitment to 3C’s priorities, and coordinated investments in infrastructure and economic development already underway.
Photo Credit: Eddie Quinones.
Buying a home is hard, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Join us now to chart a new path for housing across Chicago.
Donate Today
Our Mission & Values
Mission: 3C creates new pathways to homeownership, enabling residents of historically underinvested communities to build financial security while supporting stronger, more stable neighborhoods.
Values: Equity | Collaboration | Sustainability | Innovation
3C Chicago is part of a national initiative (Connecting Capital and Community) working alongside a five-city cohort to strengthen local investments, challenge inequities, and increase equitable housing opportunities. This program is made possible through initial funding from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust, and the Polk Bros. Foundation.
Making Room for Innovation
3C aims to support systems-level interventions that will impact the structure of opportunity for underinvested communities citywide. As a cross-sector initiative housed at The Chicago Community Trust, 3C has focused on expanding access to homeownership through coordinated investment, policy innovation, and community-driven solutions.
This collaborative initiative leverages its experience and funding to drive coordinated, place-based solutions for homebuyers in East Garfield Park and Humboldt Park, shaping a new homeownership model for other communities or cities.
How 3C Supports Its Partners
3C convenes and supports the organizations who work directly with homebuyers – serving as a convener, funder, and thought partner to advance innovations that remove barriers to affordable homeownership.
- Developers: 3C provides funding to advance the development and affordability of new construction homes on vacant lots in historically underinvested communities.
- HUD-certified housing counseling agencies: 3C provides funding to expand the availability of homebuyer education and one-on-one counseling, to assist households in purchasing their first home.
- Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs): 3C provides funding to develop more affordable capital products such as construction loans for developers and flexible mortgage products for buyers.
Together, these offerings are designed to: stabilize neighborhoods by returning vacant lots to productive use, increasing availability of affordable homes, and creating accessible pathways to first-time homeownership.
For more information on how to support 3C, contact:
Adele Nandan
Director of Donor Engagement
[email protected]
Investment Priorities
Our model for change is grounded in three investment priorities:
-
Increasing housing supply.
-
Supporting a pipeline of first-time homebuyers.
-
Expanding equitable access to capital.
Intended Outcomes
To build stronger and more stable neighborhoods, we are aiming for:
-
Expanded development of affordable, single-family and multi-family homes on publicly owned vacant parcels.
-
Residents who are empowered and equipped to purchase homes.
-
A new mortgage product that is affordable, flexible, and increases purchasing power for low and moderate-income families.
The 3C Chicago Team
3C Resources & Opportunities
3C Program Offerings | How to Start
Learn more about the 3C program offerings and how to become a homeowner.
3C Developer Partners | New Construction Home Features
Learn more about the homes from our Developer Alliance.
The Latest from 3C
-
-
Advancing Homeownership as a Tool for Wealth Building
More than a roof over heads, homeownership is a critical tool for helping families increase their financial security, build wealth, and pass it…
-
Advancing Equity: What is the Homeownership Gap?
Homeownership is one of the most important vehicles for building household wealth, creating a pathway for families to increase their economic security, and…
-
Trust Talks, The Podcast – Episode 12: Closing the Homeownership Gap
In this episode of the Trust Talks podcast, we explore the work of 3C, how community-centered collaboration can help close the homeownership gap,…
-
3C Helps Communities Unlock Innovation in Affordable Housing
Homeownership is the single largest source of household wealth in the Chicago region, and it also plays an important role in building flourishing…
-
The Chicago Community Trust Launches Initiative to Create Wealth through Homeownership in Black, Latinx Communities
Fueled by a $1.95 million philanthropic commitment by JPMorgan Chase, housing advocates and community partners will identify solutions to leverage vacant, abandoned land…
3C Chicago Partners
