Homeownership

Chicago thrives when people can put down roots and invest in their future. Strong and stable neighborhoods depend on residents having opportunities to own homes, build financial security, and contribute to the communities they call home.

The Chicago Community Trust works to expand access to sustainable homeownership, help families preserve and build equity, and promote long-term neighborhood stability. Through programs, policies and partnerships, the Trust helps more households achieve and sustain homeownership.

Our Vision

We envision a Chicago region where every resident has the opportunity to own a home, build financial security, and contribute to a vibrant neighborhood.

Achieving this vision requires sustained investment, strong partnerships, and learning alongside communities. The Trust draws on insights from grant recipients, partners, research, and residents to inform its work to expand homeownership, preserve home equity, and increase economic opportunity.

Homeownership:
State of the Space

The Financial Health Pulse® 2025 Chicago Trends Report highlights the connection between homeownership and neighborhood well-being. Nearly half (46%) of Cook County homeowners are financially healthy, compared with just 17% of renters. Homeowners also report higher levels of satisfaction with neighborhood safety, schools, parks, and other community amenities, underscoring how stable homeownership benefits both households and neighborhoods.

Yet access to capital and a shortage of affordable, quality homes remain major barriers. According to the Financial Health Network’s Credit Ready but Priced Out report, only one in seven credit-ready renters can afford to buy a home worth over $200,000 in Chicago. Meanwhile, the median for sale home price is now $380,000. The Trust supports coordinated strategies that expand sustainable homeownership, preserve home equity, and strengthen neighborhood stability.

Barriers to Buying & Maintaining a Home Include:

Where We Focus

The Trust supports programs, policies and partnerships that strengthen neighborhood stability by expanding homeownership, preserving community assets, and helping neighborhood businesses grow.

Increase Residents’ Homeownership & Home Equity

For residents who have faced systemic barriers to owning a home and building equity in that home, our goals are to:

  • Expand access to sustainable homeownership by increasing opportunities for residents to purchase and sustain homeownership by supporting responsible lending, housing counseling, affordable home development, and innovative financing strategies that make homeownership more attainable.

  • Preserve homeownership and strengthen neighborhood stability by supporting homeowners in maintaining and improving their homes through home repair programs, home equity preservation, policy solutions, and other strategies that help longtime residents remain in their communities as neighborhoods evolve.

  • Explore alternative pathways to housing stability and financial security such as credit repair programs for renters and shared ownership models for residents in communities at high risk of displacement.

Collaboration is Needed

Expanding homeownership requires collaboration across sectors. The Trust works alongside community organizations, financial institutions, developers, employers, government agencies, philanthropy, and civic partners to increase housing stability, preserve neighborhood assets, and promote long-term community vitality.

Here Are Opportunities to Engage:

The Trust collaborates with a wide range of external partners, including community organizations, local government, and civic and corporate leaders, on ways we can work together or alongside one another to help increase wealth, opportunities and well-being for every Chicagoan.   

Here are opportunities to engage:

  • Connecting Capital & Community (3C): A funder collaborative that expands sustainable homeownership opportunities in historically underinvested neighborhoods while helping residents remain in their communities as investment increases. You can contribute to 3C’s efforts to support community-based developers building new homes on vacant lots through the 3C Developers’ Fund. The fund addresses access to capital challenges for developers and removes a critical barrier to community investment in East Garfield Park and Humboldt Park. Contact Alexis Butler, director of 3C, at abutler@cct.org.
  • Stay in Place: A multi-year partnership that helps longtime homeowners remain safely in their homes by supporting home repairs and preservation strategies that strengthen neighborhood housing and help residents build and retain home equity. You can advance this initiative with gifts to support the expansion of work for organizations like The Resurrection Project and UnBlocked Englewood. To learn more about the initiative, contact Matt Shomo, program manager for homeownership and home equity, at mshomo@cct.org.
  • Home Lending Partnership: A collaboration connecting community-based housing organizations and community development financial institutions to expand access to responsible mortgage lending and homeownership opportunities in underserved communities. To learn more, contact Matt Shomo, program manager for homeownership and home equity, at mshomo@cct.org.

Related Stories

Our Homeownership Team