Homeownership matters
A stable mortgage anchors housing costs while home equity accumulates over time, creating a foundation that benefits not just individual families, but entire neighborhoods.
White Americans have the highest homeownership rates (~74%), while Black and Latino families have the lowest (~46% and ~49%, respectively).
Historical discrimination and practices of redlining have kept generations of communities from having access to fair financing and the ability to build generational wealth. The effects are still felt today, but they are not being actively addressed by many lenders.
Even when underserved communities have access to fair loans, they may not have had the privilege of financial education. Financial coaching and education are essential to set borrowers up for success.
Achieving our goal
Self-Help's work is focused on narrowing homeownership and wealth gaps through equitable products and policies. However, these products can't work on their own. That's why it's important to our mission that our borrowers also have access to free financial coaching for support in achieving their dreams of homeownership. We believe that, with the right support, homeownership can be accessible to everyone.
In Chicago, we serve as a key lending partner in the Reclaiming Chicago Communities program, which purchases and renovates homes in underinvested neighborhoods to create homeownership pathways for residents who have been historically excluded.
In Chicago, we serve as a key lending partner in the Reclaiming Chicago Communities program, which purchases and renovates homes in underinvested neighborhoods to create homeownership pathways for residents who have been historically excluded.
Our Equity Boost Loans and SAFE Home Accounts were created to assist first-generation homeowners and borrowers with modest incomes by offering lower down payment requirements, affordable monthly payments and savings for home maintenance. These products are often paired with local down payment assistance programs to make homeownership even more accessible for our borrowers.
While Equity Boost and SAFE were specifically designed to support first-generation homeowners, all of our loan products incorporate flexible, fair, and responsible requirements to help more of our community achieve ownership.
Through our secondary market program, Self-Help is able to help even more families achieve homeownership by purchasing responsible, affordable loans from other lenders.
By partnering with other financial institutions, we're able to multiply our impact and bring economic opportunity to thousands more families across the country.
Affordable housing development
Self-Help's Real Estate Team has been developing affordable housing since the mid-1990s. As the housing crisis has deepened, so has the scope of our work. We now develop and preserve a broad spectrum of housing types, including new construction single-family homes to make homeownership more accessible as well as affordable rental units, senior living, and mixed-use developments.
Self-Help purchased properties in Rocky Mount, NC, with the vision of developing single-family, affordable homes. Katrina, a CNA and mother of four children, was able to purchase one of these homes with Self-Help.
Self-Help purchased properties in Rocky Mount, NC, with the vision of developing single-family, affordable homes. Katrina, a CNA and mother of four children, was able to purchase one of these homes with Self-Help.
Your Self-Help deposits help to fund affordable mortgages and housing development in communities that need it most.