ICYMI: UnidosUS HOME Market Launches Kick Off in Chicago
On July 21, 2023, UnidosUS launched the organization’s HOME (Home Ownership Means Equity) initiative in Chicago, Illinois – the first city in a five-market campaign that aims to catalyze the creation of four million new Latino homeowners by 2030 through upstream, locally-minded investments. The HOME initiative in Chicago was announced just days before the 2023 UnidosUS Annual Conference, creating momentum and excitement for the nearly 2,000 advocates, leaders, and allies that came together and featured an address from Vice President Kamala Harris.
As part of the Chicago HOME launch, UnidosUS hosted a trolley tour through Chicago’s historic Southside. The Resurrection Project, one of five Affiliates in the HOME Chicago market, organized the route and guided the attendees through the neighborhoods of Pilsen, Back of the Yards, Archer Heights, and Brighton Park – Chicago neighborhoods that feature land and once-forgotten empty lots that hold great potential for the development of affordable housing. Additionally, three of the four selected neighborhoods have Latino population percentages of at least 65%, making them optimal locations to kickstart the HOME initiative goal. The tour highlighted the types of projects the HOME initiative will focus on: housing in neighborhoods where HOME Affiliates are conducting construction of homes.
Press and housing advocates gather in an affordable housing unit built by The Resurrection Project in the Southside of Chicago to hear more about the HOME initiative’s goals and strategies.
UnidosUS chose four local partners to receive initial grants to support consumer counseling and other programs that help prospective Latino homeowners navigate the homebuying process. Grantees include The Resurrection Project, Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, Northwest Center, Gads Hill Center, and the Spanish Coalition for Housing. From The Resurrection Project’s financial coaching services and workshops to Northwest Center’s job placement and skill development program, these partner organizations utilize their services to uplift underserved communities.
“Our deep history in the city of Chicago will set the foundation to deploy community level strategies through the HOMEownership Solutions Network, allowing us to serve more families, measure progress, and identify scalable solutions to help us achieve our goal of creating four million net new Latino homeowners by 2030.”
– Laura Arce, UnidosUS Senior Vice President for Economic Initiatives
Thanks to its strong Latino community and encouraging economic trends, Chicago presents a promising landscape for UnidosUS HOME initiative investments. The median Hispanic household income and the income needed to afford the median-priced home in Chicago were more closely matched than in each of the other top 10 most populous Latino markets – at $71,700 and $72,214.90 respectively.
In the news
- WBEZ, Chicago’s NPR-affiliated radio station, ran a segment on the Chicago HOME trolley tour and selection of Chicago as one of the five HOME launching grounds. You can listen to the segment here.
- Following UnidosUS’s Chicago HOME launch program, Vice President Kamala Harris delivered an invigorating speech at the UnidosUS 2023 Annual Conference. Vice President Harris highlighted UnidosUS’s commitment to achieving homeownership equity for Latinos nationwide and how these efforts align with the nation’s first Homeowner Bill of Rights. You can read Vice President Harris’s remarks in full here.
More information on the UnidosUS HOME initiative, including recent and forthcoming market launches, visit our website here and follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
