Arizona Officials, Housing Advocates Gather to Launch UnidosUS HOME Initiative in Phoenix

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HOME aims to create four million new Latino homeowners nationwide by 2030 

Phoenix, AZ – November 6, 2023 – On Monday, November 6, 2023, UnidosUS unveiled the HOME (Home Ownership Means Equity) initiative in Phoenix, Arizona with a kick-off event at the Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) Women’s Business Center. Phoenix is one of five preliminary markets set to receive focused investment from UnidosUS to catalyze Latino homeownership. As part of the launch, representatives from the public, private, and social sectors came together to discuss the importance of expanding Latino homeownership in Phoenix and achieving the HOME initiative’s goal of creating four million new Latino homeowners nationwide by 2030.  

CPLC, a longtime UnidosUS Affiliate, has been selected to support several elements of HOME in Phoenix. As part of the program, CPLC will help mortgage-ready individuals and families navigate the homebuying process. Housing counselors will help prospective Latino homeowners identify feasible housing options and overcome institutional obstacles such as mortgage lending discrimination and language barriers. UnidosUS will utilize grants to support the work and housing counseling programs of Phoenix-based Affiliates CPLC and Administration of Resources and Choices.  

“We’re thrilled to launch HOME in Phoenix and work with organizations like CPLC to help local Latinos become mortgage-ready and realize their dream of becoming homeowners,” said Laura Arce, Senior Vice President for Economic Initiatives at UnidosUS. “UnidosUS has long focused on housing, and particularly homeownership, for several reasons. It is the gateway to building generational wealth, but it’s so much more than that. It has a strong effect on access to college education, positive health outcomes, and workforce opportunities. Homeownership represents familia. It represents security and stability.” 

Dr. Maria Harper-Marinick, UnidosUS Board of Directors Member, Senior Fellow at The Aspen Institute, and former Chancellor of Maricopa Community Colleges, kicked off the program with welcoming remarks, noting that housing insecurity is “one of the key factors that keeps students from completing degrees that are essential for people to engage in our communities.” 

After a keynote speech from Luis Heredia, State Director for U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), the roundtable discussion explored the challenges prospective Latino homebuyers in Phoenix face, such as low housing stock and density, and the historic, systemic barriers to access. 

“The opportunity to own an affordable housing unit really paved the way for my own path to go to college,” Luis Heredia said. “The priority for [Senator Mark Kelly], especially after the pandemic, is engaging with our communities and figuring out how best to respond to an affordable housing crisis that we currently have in the Phoenix area and throughout the state. Phoenix is a perfect market for this investment, and I want to thank the leadership of UnidosUS in making sure that their program focuses on this community.” 

The discussion was moderated by Catherine Reagor, Senior Real Estate Reporter at The Arizona Republic, and included five panelists:  

  • Laura Arce – Senior Vice President for Economic Initiatives, UnidosUS 
  • Annie Donovan – President and CEO, Raza Development Fund 
  • Patricia Duarte – Executive Vice President, Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) 
  • Gina Montes – Deputy City Manager, City of Phoenix  
  • Rashad Shabazz – Associate Professor, Arizona State University  

Gina Montes, speaking from her perspective as a local government official and longtime Phoenix resident, said: “I look at the city of Phoenix, and also my home for nearly 30 years, and 42% of the population is Latino. If they’re not getting the opportunities to partake in homeownership, how much of our community is left behind? How can Phoenix truly prosper as a community if they aren’t included in that dream?” 

To conclude the event, Wells Fargo Senior Vice President Ruben Barrales discussed the importance of the private sector in ensuring these access gaps are closed and how the HOME initiative will play a key role. Wells Fargo is the first anchor funder of the HOME initiative as part of a larger, $25 million philanthropic investment in UnidosUS community-focused programs and nonprofit Affiliate partners to advance Latino homeownership. 

Phoenix is a promising housing market for mortgage-ready Latinos, who continue to make strong and consistent contributions to the city’s Metro Area population, labor force, and economic growth against all odds. 

  • While the homeownership rate of Latinos in Arizona is almost double that of the U.S. population, the pace of development of new homes has slowed considerably over the last few years, causing inventory challenges and high prices. Between 2011 to 2020, only around 240,000 new housing units were built in the Phoenix metro area.  
  • According to the 2023 Phoenix metro Latino report, which measured the GDP of the region’s fastest growing demographic group, Latinos contributed at least $65.1 billion to the Phoenix-area economy in 2018, which is larger than the entire economy of states like Maine or North Dakota.  
  • Despite only accounting for 31% of the Phoenix Metro Area population, Latinos are responsible for 60% of the growth of the labor force.  

The local rollout of HOME in Phoenix comes on the heels of the initiative’s national launch in June. Through the new national movement, UnidosUS is investing in a cohort of five initial cities slated to receive targeted grants through the HOMEownership Solutions Network to fund consumer housing counseling programs. In addition to Phoenix, the first cohort also includes Chicago, IL; Orlando, FL; Houston, TX; and Stockton, CA. 

Photos from the kick-off event in Phoenix can be found HERE. More information on the HOME initiative is available here: https://unidosus.org/homeownership/.