About - Chicago Housing Trust

Vision

The Chicago Housing Trust envisions equitable, attainable, and sustainable home ownership for Chicagoans.

Mission

The Chicago Housing Trust expands housing access, stable residential communities, and long-term affordability in Chicago, by providing opportunities and resources so that homes are assets within reach for people seeking ownership.

Values

Equitable

Housing equity for Chicagoans is the North Star of our work. We use our programs, resources and advocacy to make ownership of single-family homes, condominiums, townhouses and multi-unit flats a possibility for all Chicago residents. In neighborhoods where gentrification threatens affordability and displaces legacy residents, we intend our focus on equity to have impact for generations to come.

Strategic

The housing challenges facing Chicagoans are complex. Solutions call for dynamic and collaborative tactics that leverage public, private and philanthropic sectors. We are uniquely positioned in Chicago to tap programs, tools and networks citywide. Balancing our passionate commitment to Chicagoans with our understanding of the Chicago housing market, we advance our mission to strategically benefit multiple generations of homeowners.

Collaborative

The journey to accessible homeownership cannot be done alone. We work alongside the City of Chicago, community-based and citywide organizations, private developers and philanthropic organizations to acquire, restore, market and sell housing to buyers who need affordable housing solutions. In forging these relationships, we help empower residents with housing choice and ownership access.

Catalytic

Our work is ambitious, audacious, expansive and necessary in a city where housing displacement pressures have disproportionately impacted Black and Latinx residents. Long-standing institutional barriers in Chicago’s housing markets now give way to innovative ideas and policies, community ownership, and expanded housing near transit. We are part of the city’s progress. Our work seeks to impact residents, builders, buyers and policy-makers. We aim for systems-change that shapes new, long-term standards for equitable, attainable, and stable homeownership for Chicagoans.