Navigating Homeownership

Produced by Corli Jay  |  Chicago’s Choose To Own program gives low-income residents the educational and financial support to buy their first home, helping them navigate a confusing and discriminatory mortgage and appraisal system. Still, some participants worry their newfound financial stability may push them out of the program — jeopardizing the wealth the program was designed to build. 

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Redfin Recording: [00:00:00] Press 1 to talk to a representative or press 2 to learn more about Redfin. This call may be recorded for training purposes. 

JD: Um, I was calling because there was an apartment that I was interested in, at looking at in, um, Rogers Park. I've lived in Rogers Park my entire life. 1057 West Pratt Boulevard, um, Unit 4D.

I'm afraid that I'm going to have difficulty finding a place in Rogers Park because that's where I want to stay. Yeah, I would love to. That's exactly why I'm calling. I would love to be able to see it. 

Corli Jay, Producer: That's JD, a Rogers Park resident who asked me not to use her real name. She's currently going through a home ownership program after being on a rental assistance voucher with the Chicago Housing Authority for five years.

JD: I decided to join the Choose to Own program right now, I think, because ultimately, I think I wanted to build generational wealth. And I know that that's not something that is easily done [00:01:00] for a lot of people that come from my financial tax bracket. 

Corli Jay, Producer: Home ownership is credited as the most effective way to close the racial wealth gap in America.

Because of historical policies like redlining that denied lending to Black people and prevented investment in their neighborhoods, the Black population is still the least likely to own homes around the country. Chicago's Choose to Own program services mostly Black potential homebuyers, helping to close that gap.

On this episode, we're following three families as they navigate finding a home in Chicago. This is Corli Jay with Choose to Own for Change Agents.

I'm in the home of Ruth and her son, Corey, who live in the Chicago neighborhood of South Shore. They got their home through the Choose to Own program. 

Ruth: I [00:02:00] like the single family because I always wanted a garden, you know, to grow things and to make it look pretty in case if I want to sit out there and read and with a condo you can't do that.

Corli Jay, Producer: They live in one of those corner houses, which makes it bigger than other houses on the block. When I walk in, I see boxes everywhere because they just moved in, but there's pictures on the wall and furniture in its right place, showing the potential. 

Corey: And so, we're taking a lot of the colors from here and using it to paint the walls to, you know, compliment it.

So, the gray in here, we kind of like found it. A gray, not too dark, not too light that we want to use, like a medium gray. 

Ruth: strips from the store there on the table. 

Corli Jay, Producer: For Ruth, owning a house is something that she always wanted, and she knew this place was hers from the first time she saw it. 

Ruth: I had a dream that I had bought a house, and I was coming through the back door, and I saw what it looked like and where the windows were.

So, when I walked in here with the buyer agent, we came. And was walking from the back to [00:03:00] the front. And as I was walking, that dream came to mind. So, I knew for some reason, this was the place. 

Corli Jay, Producer: Ruth and Corey originally lived on Chicago's north side, where she raised Corey and his two siblings. 

Ruth: I was living in Edgewater community for over 30 years.

I raised my children there and they went to really good schools. Our first choice was the north side. 

Corli Jay, Producer: Ruth waited 30 years to get a call back from the CHA to get rental assistance. 

Ruth: When they called me on that wait list, I was excited, but I was like, wow, they waited 30 years to call me. Who would have thought it would have been 30 years?

And then at that moment I say, you know, things happen for a reason. Cause right at that moment was when I got sick. Before I got sick, I was doing really well. I had bought a car and I paid it off. No late fees, no nothing. So, my credit was [00:04:00] good. It got bad because I had got sick. So, I kind of slacked up on some things because I couldn't leave the house for two years.

Corli Jay, Producer: Ruth couldn't work, which caused her credit to suffer and led her into bankruptcy. Although the odds were against her. Ruth still maintained her dream of buying a home.

Ruth: I always believed that I was going to get a house. I did really believe that it was just a matter of when and where. 

Corli Jay, Producer: Ruth talking about her always wanting a garden made me feel connected with her.

Because I have a garden in my backyard. Our latest harvest, we had peas. I also became a homeowner through the same program.

My husband Caprice and I moved into our house three years ago through the Choose to Own program. We moved from Auburn Gresham to West Pullman, which are both on the south side, after getting rental assistance for four years. It was an [00:05:00] exciting new journey. Just like what Ruth and Corey went through.

Corey said they learned about the Choose to Own program or CTO after being invited to a seminar. 

Corey: So, I had no idea about getting a home, you know, uh, just grew up in apartments my whole life. So, this was new for me, just like it was for her, my mom. So, uh, I was learning just like she was from scratch. 

Corli Jay, Producer: My mom is a homeowner, so I had her to turn to as I was going through the program. But this is a common thing among CTO participants to be the first in their family to buy a home. 

Ruth: Well, I was kind of excited about it because I was like, they got a program that's gonna help us and we were trying on our own to get it. It was something we didn't know.

So, I wanted to know more. I was curious. 

Corli Jay, Producer: To qualify, you have to be a first-time home buyer and have at least $3,000 in savings. You also have to have a credit score over 640, but this can be a hurdle for many participants. [00:06:00] CTO partners with Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, NHS, which provides counselors who have experience in making budgets, saving up for a down payment, and fixing your credit.

That help is part of the reason Ruth and Corey have a home today. 

Corey: So, it looked like I wasn't making payments on time because it was in repayment for so long. It just looked like I was delinquent on purpose. 

Corli Jay, Producer: That's Corey describing his credit battle. Before getting into the CTO program, Corey was attending the University of Illinois in Champaign.

He said the school promised to pay for his education due to his mom's sickness but had failed to deliver on that promise. 

Corey: So, they sent two of my loans that came directly from the university to collections, right? And so, it lowered my credit drastically. 

Corli Jay, Producer: Corey struggled to get the situation resolved until their NHS counselor stepped in.

Corey: When we got our second counselor, Michael, he gave me literally direct links [00:07:00] to file disputes because there were two of them for both loans that were sent to collection and it like wiped it right out.

Corli Jay, Producer: About 20 miles north in Rogers Park, JD is getting ready to go through this process that Ruth, Corey, and I went through. As we walk around her neighborhood, she tells me why she hopes she can stay. 

JD: A few more blocks up on Ashland and then make a right on Bosworth at Sullivan High School, which is the neighborhood high school.

My mom went there, my sister went there. Um, and then I went to, no, I went to, I went to Lane Tech. Um, but then my elementary school is also about five blocks away, so it's not too far.

Last year, when I heard about the program initially, or a couple of years ago, I couldn't afford to be in the program, or rather I hadn't met the income requirements yet. And so, this year I got a [00:08:00] new job and I met the income requirements and so I decided, you know what, why not just pull the plug on it and just apply and see what happens.

Corli Jay, Producer: When she gets her home, JD. will be a part of the small percentage of minority homeowners in Chicago and across the country. In Chicago, 35 percent of Black families own homes while 43 percent of Hispanic families own homes. That's compared to 53 percent of white families in Chicago.

I didn't really ever think about owning a home until I was presented with the CTO because I thought it would be too much financially. My NHS counselors helped me realize I could buy a home at 25 years old. 

Danielle Matthews, Director of Homeownership Services, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago: My name is Danielle Matthews. I am the Director of Homeownership Services with Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago.

Corli Jay, Producer: Danielle knows firsthand the issues facing low-income communities when it comes to homeownership and the barriers that are added with being Black and in [00:09:00] subsidized housing. She learned to budget and save during the NHS classes 20 years ago when she began the process of buying her first home. 

Danielle Matthews, Director of Homeownership Services, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago: Part of the barriers in my family, in my life, is that we didn't know how to manage our credit.

We didn't know the benefits of, you know, being able to save. Organizations like NHS will introduce those specific tasks to communities that are not aware, to households who don't know what a budget is. 

Corli Jay, Producer: These classes are really helpful for people like J. D. who would be the first in her family to own a home.

CTO participants get a lawyer and some inspection costs paid, which is a big help when you have to worry about paying off other things. 

Danielle Matthews, Director of Homeownership Services, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago: A lot of residents that we see have issues with large medical debt, student loan debt, and then just revolving debt being more than what their income can sustain. 

Corli Jay, Producer: Along with being the least likely to own homes, Black people hold the most amount of debt because we have less wealth and make less money on average.

Danielle Matthews, Director of Homeownership Services, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago: Other barriers, of [00:10:00] course, is, is housing stock and affordability. The high cost of inventory kind of puts them out of the running for some homes that's right in their community. 

Corli Jay, Producer: Most participants buy homes on the South Side, specifically in the neighborhoods of Roseland and areas near Chatham and Auburn Park.

The CTO program actually encourages this as a way to invest in historically disinvested communities. 

Danielle Matthews, Director of Homeownership Services, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago: And it starts from, you know, one, building trust with the community residents, but two, highlighting the amenities of our communities that some may see as blighted because they see the vacant lots, they see the abandoned buildings.

So, we have to change their mindset and give the residents a different view. 

Corli Jay, Producer: This can be a double-edged sword for participants, as there is so much stigma attached to living in certain neighborhoods. Corey says he was concerned about safety when they realized their best options were on the south side of Chicago.

Corey: The media has a big part in portraying certain areas of the city in a certain way. So, you think that entire [00:11:00] area is like that, especially if you're not really familiar with it. You never really been over there like that.

Corli Jay, Producer: During my tour through Rogers Park with JD, we see lots of single-family homes on the same block as her apartment building. 

JD: Let's see. So, okay. So, look, so this one is not for sale. So, 7059 North Ashland is last, it was last sold for almost $500,000. And that is a four bedroom 1. 5 bath, which is, I guess, moderate, but even four is like a lot.

Corli Jay, Producer: J. D. 's current apartment in Rogers Park is very spacious. She has a dog and two cats and owns a robust collection of plants. As I walked inside and greeted her dog, I was mesmerized by the beauty of her place.[00:12:00] 

J. D. learned that through the CTO, she may be able to stay in her neighborhood. Getting more money and assistance because it is a mobility area, which typically costs more to live in than certain areas on the south or west side. This is something that the CTO staff say they are working on to make sure people are aware of. 

JD: I have a family friend who, um, does realty and so I was asking her, I was like, “Oh, you know,” I was telling her about the program and that I was going to get into it and everything.

She's like, “I don't,” she's like, “You can't,” she's like, “No offense, I don't think you can afford a home.” She's like, “the homes over here are like astronomically high.” And I thought maybe that was like a bit of an exaggeration, and then when I saw that they were literally like one, 1.1 million dollars, um, I realized, okay, maybe I won't have a home, but that's also fine.

I'm fine with having a condo. I grew up in an apartment my entire life. I never, like, my family never had a house or anything like that, so I'm comfortable with that.[00:13:00] 

Corli Jay, Producer: Across the country, homeownership programs face underfunding, often leading to underutilization.

Only about 800 families have gotten home from the program since it was founded in 2002.

In Illinois, CHA and Cook County's programs are short staffed. Danielle from NHS says, They feel that strain too, as the need can outweigh the dollars available. 

Danielle Matthews, Director of Homeownership Services, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago: There is a high need for grants, not just grants to help our community members transition to homeownership but grants to help them stay in their home.

Let's just say the number is 50, we typically will receive 200 to 300 applications over the amount that we, um, funding that we have. 

Corli Jay, Producer: Yet the CTO program alone can't cover the increased costs and responsibilities of being a homeowner. When me and Caprice got our home in May 2020, the CTO [00:14:00] program paid about half of our $800 mortgage.

I had just been laid off and was only working part time. 

Danielle Matthews, Director of Homeownership Services, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago: There's a clear difference of being a renter and then becoming a homeowner. When you become a homeowner, you most likely will have more square footage in your home to cover in terms of heating and utility costs, but also a water bill.

Corli Jay, Producer: One of the things that 

stuck out to me when I arrived to Ruth and Corey's house was how tall and wild the grass was.

I learned that they couldn't find a lawn guy and after buying a home, they didn't have too much left for a lawnmower. 

Ruth: We were gonna try to do it ourselves, but then I told my son, we don't have a lawnmower. So, we went to Menards and we went to Home Depot and looked around. It's like, man, this stuff is expensive.

Corli Jay, Producer: It's not just paying for cosmetic changes that make home ownership expensive. I'm looking for the tax bill. You seen the, uh, the tax bill, baby? 

Caprice: Uh, it should be in the office with the rest [00:15:00] of the house documents. 

Corli Jay, Producer: For tax year 2022, which was billed this year, total amount billed was $1,856. I started working my first full time job as a reporter in April 2022, when I was just making $55,000 a year.

I was told my increased salary meant I would be kicked off the CTO program. Dang, like, oh, I was trying to be like, oh, I'm so excited about making this money. But then I was like, I'm gonna show you. But like, how did you feel? 

Caprice: It was a bunch of emotions. It's like being a guy, you always feel like you're supposed to be able to provide for yourself and your family.

I had just been fired from one of my jobs and I took it upon myself to go to school. It was frustrating. I didn't show it often, but yeah, it just fell down. It was a really low time. 

Corli Jay, Producer: Danielle Matthews of NHS says they try to prepare participants for this possibility in their training. 

Danielle Matthews, Director of Homeownership Services, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago: Consistent [00:16:00] training and, um, just engagement with the residents so that they can understand these are, you know, the program guidelines specifically outlines if your income increases, there's a chance that you're going to be transitioned off and then preparing them for that transition.

Corli Jay, Producer: I transitioned out of the program in 2022, so I had my subsidy for just two years. In fact, most people don't get the help for the 15 years that the CTO promotes. The average person gets the help for about six years. Those numbers come from CTO data. Moving off the program is considered a success because the CHA views it as families being able to sustain themselves, which makes room for other families to join the program.

Yet this doesn't consider other life costs, which is another fear that JD has. 

JD: I think that there's also the fear that I may not get coverage for the full 15 years that, uh, CHA promises. So, I think [00:17:00] that the fear that that'll happen and then I'll be in a position where I can't afford to live, um, and I'm back struggling just kind of seems almost inevitable.

Um, I just wanted to check back in and see if we would still be able to reschedule the viewing for this. 

Corli Jay, Producer: While JD is looking for her home, she's also working to get her nephew on her housing voucher. This would give her a little extra money toward a mortgage. But she's been going through this process since she became his legal guardian almost two years ago.

JD: I submitted an interim request for a change in the household size. And so, I submitted that request, I think it was like back in, he moved in in February, I think I did it in April. Um, and the first time it took them about three months to respond to me, only to tell me that he couldn't be put on because he was still on another voucher.

Submitted that paperwork, that had to be maybe like seven months ago. Never heard back from them, never heard anything. 

Corli Jay, Producer: The [00:18:00] impact of losing assistance is why many people within these programs are scared to report all of their income. Research director Amber Henley says this can stop people from pursuing more.

Amber Henley, Research Director, Woodstock Institute: Well, you don't want to discourage people from pursuing greater careers or expanding their horizons professionally, because they're afraid that they're going to miss out on this. which is still necessary even when they make more money. 

Corli Jay, Producer: That is a fear JD is familiar with. 

JD: I very frequently, uh, you know, I'd go to the public aid office with my mom, got dragged over there for food stamps, Medicaid, whatever it was.

And one of the things that would always drive me crazy is Even as a kid, like, I would recognize that my mom wasn't always fully truthful when she was reporting, you know, how much she made or the jobs that she had. When I got to be an adult, and I got into the program myself, and I realized how [00:19:00] much fear I constantly am living in of getting cut off the program, I realized why my mom felt that she had to go all these, you know, underhanded ways and why she felt like she had to be sneaky about what she was reporting.

Corli Jay, Producer: Amber is the co-author of a study that suggests committing to the life of a loan would make homeownership programs stronger. 

Amber Henley, Research Director, Woodstock Institute: Affordability, given somebody's actual financial profile, like what are their debts? Is there student loan debt? What does that really mean? This, when we calculate how much we're putting towards this voucher, without that voucher, where does that leave this participant?

Corli Jay, Producer: One solution many suggest is mentorship, allowing past participants to guide newer participants through the process. Someone who can give realistic details on how things work. NHS and Woodstock Institute, where Amber works, have been working together to create such a program.

 So, we took up the garden a few weeks ago, like last month, right?

Yeah. But we still got the, uh, rose [00:20:00] bushes out here. Those come back every year. And I feel like they're gonna be so, look at them, they're getting so high. As me and Caprice plan for a bigger and better garden next year, we are missing the assistance that really help make ends meet. He is working and going to school full time, and I also freelance on top of a full-time job.

Back at JD's house, she's getting ready for next steps within the program. On her computer, she looks at different condos. 

JD: So, my next step right now is I actually have to do my um, I have to do my home training class right now. 

Corli Jay, Producer: Though JD knows she'll still need assistance for a while, she also looks forward to finally being free.

JD: The thing that excites me about not being on Section 8 isn't a thing of, Oh, I can finally support myself. It's that I'll finally be able to get another job that [00:21:00] would allow me to sufficiently live with some sense of financial freedom. The way that I think about a second job is so different from the regular person because other people are probably like, “Oh, I hate it. I don't want it to pick up a second job. I don't want to get a second shift. Like that's too much.” But to me, I'm like, no, I'll finally be able to live. And I don't have to worry about whether or not CHA is in my pockets and knowing if I have enough money or I don't have enough money, like I'll finally be free from Big Brother watching my bank account, you know?

That's really the hope is that everything works well with this program and that I'm able to be able to own something that belongs to me and know that there's a piece of Rogers Park that's, that's mine.

Maurice Bisaillon, Executive Producer: Thank you for joining Change Agents, the podcast series looking at grassroots actions and solutions through stories told from the inside out. Produced by Juneteenth Productions. [00:22:00] The music composed by Sarah Abdelal. Funding support provided by the Chicago Community Trust, the Field Foundation, and the Wayfair Foundation.

Additional support provided by the John d and Catherine t MacArthur Foundation and DePaul University's College of Communication. Subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, and wherever you find podcasts. Follow change agents on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and the website changeagentsthepodcast.com.