Advancing Household Affordability and Stability
Homeownership is an important foundation for economic stability and is a source of wealth building, providing a stable place to live and access to a powerful asset-building vehicle while removing significant economic uncertainty in the form of fixed housing costs. But there are persistent disparities in access, attainment, and wealth accumulation through homeownership for low-to-moderate-income (LMI) households of color compared with white households because of structural gaps in income and family wealth, real estate market discrimination, and appraisal bias, among other issues.
To address current market conditions and long-standing disparities, JPMorganChase invests in innovative models that improve housing affordability and access to homeownership in underserved communities to build greater wealth and financial resilience. Through innovative financial products, enhanced supports, and more equitable systems, this cohort of grantees is breaking down barriers to access, improving affordability, and strengthening homeownership’s wealth-building benefits.
Grantee Descriptions
Build Wealth MN
The homeownership gap between Black and white households in Minnesota is vast. As of 2022, only 29 percent of Black households across the state owned their home compared with 77 percent of white households, a gap of 48 percentage points. Through this grant, Build Wealth MN is expanding its 9,000 Equities Initiative and Fund, which aims to finance 9,000 affordable homes for new homeowners in historically underserved communities of color over the next five to seven years to help close the wealth equity and homeownership gap by 15 percent. The model pairs comprehensive financial education and coaching through its Family Stabilization Plan program with access to affordable first mortgages, down payment assistance, and matched savings for those struggling to access mortgage credit.
Catapult Greater Pittsburgh
Through this grant, Catapult Greater Pittsburgh is expanding its holistic approach to address challenges faced by low-to-moderate-income (LMI) households by assisting existing and aspiring homeowners to secure affordable ownership opportunities and protect their equity. Catapult has strategic partnerships in place to achieve these goals, including Rising Tide Partners, who will increase the supply of affordable homes for purchase through acquisition and property rehabilitation, and the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, who worked with Catapult to develop a unique, accessible mortgage product designed to increase LMI homeownership rates in Allegheny County. Over the next three years, Catapult hopes to increase the portfolio of available properties to first-time homebuyers, close 160 innovative mortgage deals, and assist 90 homeowners in completing repairs and clearing titles to their properties.
City First Enterprises
Buying a home can be expensive and out of reach for households with lower incomes, especially as home prices increase in the Washington, DC, area and elsewhere. Through this grant, City First Enterprises (CFE) is implementing down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers. Homes by CFE’s financial product offers up to 20 percent of the purchase price for those who qualify for a conventional mortgage from a first-trust lender. Structured as a low-interest second-trust mortgage with a deferred interest plan for the first five years, the product lowers the amount borrowers pay every month. By increasing access to capital and lowering barriers to ownership, Homes by CFE is helping decrease the LMI homeownership gap in the region.
Compass Working Capital
Congress created the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program to enable families assisted by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to automatically build savings when they increase their earned income and are therefore required to pay more in rent. Families in the program save an average of $9,000, which can be used without restrictions to make progress toward their financial goals, including homeownership. But more than 97 percent of the estimated 2.2 million families that could be served by the program are not being reached. With this grant, Compass Working Capital will expand the scope and impact of FSS along three pathways: direct partnerships with public housing authorities and private owners of affordable housing, training and technical assistance, and policy change. Its goal is to enable more eligible families to make the most of the program in its current form while creating the conditions for this asset-building opportunity to be embedded in the core fabric of housing assistance—by testing potential frameworks for a national opt-out model for FSS. By August 2026, Compass aims to serve 9,000 families on track to collectively unlock nearly $44 million in savings from the FSS program, launch multiple opt-out pilots, and complete initial testing of FSS-like programs in other forms of affordable housing where FSS cannot be offered.
Dearfield Fund
Through this grant, the Dearfield Fund provides first-time homebuyers who have faced systematic barriers to owning a home with up to $40,000 in down payment assistance. Homeowners only pay back the loan once they sell or refinance their home by paying back the amount plus 5 percent of their home’s appreciation. Launched in Denver, the fund is developing a national replication strategy to expand the model. To deepen the program’s impact, Dearfield couples its down payment assistance with prepurchase supports (e.g., credit counseling, property search assistance, and mortgage support) and postpurchase supports (e.g., home improvement and wealth advisory) to homeowners, including via a new pilot program, Dearfield Plus, which will provide robust supports to 500 to 600 homeowners over the course of the grant.
Economic Architecture
Sustainable homeownership depends on the homeowner’s ability to make required monthly payments after they purchase the home. This ability can be greatly impaired by unexpected income or expense shocks. Normal but unexpected shocks, such as illness, injury, or job loss, often leave households, particularly those with lower incomes, unable to meet their monthly housing costs. A financial product that provides liquidity to pay mortgage costs can help homeowners avoid defaults, delinquencies, and foreclosures, improving the sustainability of homeownership for households who need it most. Through this grant, Economic Architecture is designing Project H2O, an innovative insurance product that homeowners can use to access liquidity to make mortgage payments during critical life events. Homeowners will be able to purchase this insurance via monthly payments and have their mortgage payments covered for a fixed period once they submit a qualified claim for H2O.
Homewise
In New Mexico, more than a quarter of renters are cost burdened, making it difficult for them to save for a down payment and invest in homeownership opportunities. Through this grant, Homewise is piloting an installment loan product as a tool to build credit and help put renters on a path toward homeownership. In addition to providing an accessible vehicle for potential homebuyers to build their credit, the small-dollar loan program will provide matched savings incentives for households that set aside resources toward a down payment. Homewise is partnering with the Minister’s Fellowship of Albuquerque & Vicinity and the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center to assist with outreach and community engagement and help expand Homewise’s reach within Black and Native American communities. Through the new product and partnerships, Homewise will connect potential homebuyers to their broader suite of services, ranging from financial counseling to down payment assistance to home selection, to help households along their homeownership journey.
UnidosUS
While the Latino population grows across the country, Latino households continue to face obstacles to homeownership, including barriers to credit, targeting by predatory lenders, and lower mortgage approvals. Through this grant, UnidosUS will advance a national campaign, the Home Ownership Means Equity (HOME) initiative, in the following priority areas: (1) homebuyer education and down payment assistance, (2) informing public policies related to accessing credit, (3) outreach and advocacy on housing supply, and (4) appraisal bias and estate planning. Specifically, UnidosUS will (1) launch a national Latino Researcher Network to convene researchers from across the country and bolster the evidence base for Latino households under each of these pillars and (2) pilot a Latino homeownership blueprint across these pillars with affiliates and stakeholders.
