Meet our Homeowners
Meet
Sheila
After 22 years of renting in the Uptown neighborhood on Chicago’s Far North Side, Sheila bought a condo in a swanky, new luxury development she didn’t think she could afford.
She had a good job as an art director for local newspapers, but the ever-rising housing prices and property taxes, especially in gentrifying neighborhoods like Uptown, often keep homeownership in Chicago out of reach for many people.
During a sporadic and usually disappointing search that lasted about four years, she couldn’t find a place to buy that both felt right and fit within her budget — that is, until she found herself on a fateful mission to track down the elusive developer of a new condo building.
“It was just complete serendipity that I even found out about this whole thing with the [Chicago Housing Trust] and that there were units in this building that were going to be available,” she said.
The year was 2011. Sheila was at a meeting for first-time homebuyers when she saw a flyer for the building — it was the first piece of concrete information about the building she had come across. The developer walked away from the project when the housing crisis hit three years earlier, leaving 41 of the building’s 44 units unsold.
The condominium was three blocks from her apartment, and she had been interested from the moment construction began. The flyer was a sign that living there could be a real possibility, but it listed the wrong contact information for the new developer. With help from her real estate broker, Sheila learned about the Housing Trust, which held two affordable-housing units in the building.
“I contacted the [Chicago Housing Trust] and [was] like, ‘Tell me what I have to do,’ and started that whole process,” she said.
When she walked through the front door of her condo, she noticed the view first. The floor-to-ceiling windows in the two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo overlook one of her neighborhood’s four historic cemeteries and frame the view exactly as she had imagined it whenever she passed the construction site, back when she never thought she could afford to live there.
“It is a dream to be able to get into this building that I had my eye on for a long time, and I couldn’t have afforded to buy a unit here at the regular market price,” she said. “It was just a miracle that there was a unit available in the building [which I could afford]” Made possible by the Chicago Housing Trust.
The flyer leading her to the Housing Trust may have seemed like fate, but Shelia made a more powerful discovery that she took as a sign of approval from her mother, who had died a few years earlier. It happened as she prepared to leave the unit after her first viewing. Already convinced it was the right place for her, she noticed a feather on the floor of the otherwise pristine condo unit. Feathers hold a personal meaning for her because they figured prominently in a dream about her mother.
“When [the agent] first opened the door to this place, I knew,” she said. “I knew it was my place, but when I saw that feather, it was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I will never, ever forget that, and I put that feather in a frame.”
Meet
Lincoln
Lincoln had never thought about buying a home. It wasn’t on his radar until a chance conversation with a coworker about affordable housing options available through the Chicago Housing Trust (“the Housing Trust”) piqued his interest.
“The idea of affordable housing – in a homeownership context – it really appealed to me,” he said. “I didn’t even consider before learning about [the Housing Trust about the land trust that ownership] was something that I could do, especially as a millennial without a lot of net worth saved up for a big down payment.”
As a renter and someone who works at a non-profit developer of affordable rental housing and spends his free time organizing for tenant’s rights, Lincoln understood the stress and uncertainty renters face. The rising costs of rent and utilities, and the level of property upkeep were all beyond his control. He liked the idea that homeownership would offer a greater sense of security and stability. So, he researched the program and decided to attend one of the sessions to learn more about the Housing Trust and its process. What he learned inspired him to take the next step.
Lincoln rented in the Logan Square neighborhood on the Northwest Side of Chicago for eight years. During that time, he saw the dramatic changes the influx of luxury condos and apartments had on the neighborhood — its appearance, the people who lived and owned businesses there, and determinants of who could afford to continue to be a part of the community.
“A selling point to me about the [Housing Trust] is that it’s not like just there’s this program out there and there’s houses here and there, but that there was actually a unit available in Logan Square,” he said. With eight years of history there, he said “I had relationships and friends. I was near work. So, there were a lot of reasons that it would have been difficult to leave the neighborhood.”
Because the Housing Trust is designed to give buyers the opportunity and tools to thrive as homeowners, it’s a multistep process that usually takes several months to navigate. It can be daunting but, during that time, Lincoln worked with Housing Trust staff and a HUD-certified housing counselor who walked him through the process and connected him to other helpful resources.
“I mean, for me, no one else in my immediate family had owned a home ever,” he said. “I didn’t know much about it at all. Through the [Housing Trust’s] orientation and the home buyer trainings and conversations and always being accessible to answer questions, I felt much more secure and comfortable with the process.”
Now, he owns a two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo with a balcony. He doesn’t have to think about renewing his lease every year or what could happen with his apartment if the landlord decides to raise the rent. He knows he can settle in, invest in things that will give him happiness, and turn his condo into a home.
“It pretty much changed the whole dynamic of how I thought about what I was capable of doing even,” he said. “I didn’t think I could be a homeowner. It really changed the trajectory of my life in that way and what I thought was possible for me.”
Meet
Thea
A severe snowstorm didn’t stop Thea from moving into her new three-bedroom, two-bathroom, single-family house in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side.
The months-long journey leading up to the move-in day was filled with excitement and plans for the home she wanted to create, but there had been some impatience, too.
Before she could move forward, there were various steps built into the Chicago Housing Trust (“the Housing Trust”) process, which is aligned with the City of Chicago’s programs to give low- and moderate-income households the opportunity and resources to buy affordable homes in the city. Through classes, the Housing Trust helps buyers understand the commitment of homeownership as a long-term financial investment that extends well beyond the property’s purchase price.
For Thea, it felt like a long, sometimes frustratingly uncertain approval process. Still, she understood that homeownership took time — time to learn, time to prepare for the commitment, and time to fund.
“It was just kind of this amazing moment for me to know that I owned my own home, and I could really create a place that had some roots and create a space that was one where I could grow a family and create memories,” she said.
After Thea closed on her home, she was ready to move in right away — despite the harsh weather conditions.
She was fortunate to have a supportive family willing to work through the weather. She rallied them to help haul furniture and trudge through hills of accumulating snow in the extreme cold, a chore they didn’t seem to mind.
“It was January when I bought it, and we were all so excited that everyone helped to move me into the house and move all my furniture, which had been in storage,” she said.
That was January 2009 — the 10th coldest month recorded in Chicago history, according to the National Weather Service.
Braving the cold and snow was worth it. It’s been more than 12 years since Thea moved in, but there’s warmth in her voice as she talks about how grateful she is to have a home and a reliable support system. Back then, as a graduate student working toward a master’s degree in urban planning and policy, buying a house, especially in the city, had seemed out of reach.
“At the time, I didn’t think there was any way that I could possibly afford to ever own a home in Chicago,” she said.
But that was before she heard about the Housing Trust. Now, she shares her home with her two-year-old son, Ronan, and thinks that having a house played a significant role in helping her feel ready to start a family. Ronan has plenty of room to play, and when he’s not running around in their spacious backyard, they like to explore nearby parks. They often go to Humboldt Park for walks and visits with ducks, geese, snakes, and dogs.
“I think this is a really important program, not just because it’s been important for me and my family, but also because I really do believe that it provides stability for affordable housing and for communities,” she said. “It’s important for people of all different kinds of backgrounds to be able to have homes, and that’s the kind of opportunity that this program provides.”