On June 14th, UnidosUS – the country’s largest Hispanic civil rights organization – launched a bold initiative to transform the economic trajectory of Latino families through homeownership. The Home Ownership Means Equity (HOME) Initiative will advance systemic change to enable the creation of four million new Latino homeowners by 2030.
Homeownership is an institutional priority for UnidosUS and the Latino community. Not only is it the primary mechanism for building generational wealth, but it’s also closely associated with positive health outcomes, access to quality education, and civic engagement. Furthermore, Latinos value and prioritize homeownership because it represents family, security, and stability. Supporting homeownership builds the health, wealth, and wellbeing of the Latino community.
Latino homeownership also serves as a powerful engine for the U.S. housing sector, playing a pivotal role in the robustness of the U.S. economy. And, as Latinos are one-fifth of the U.S. population, UnidosUS affirms that investing in Latino homeownership is good for the economic and social wellbeing of the country. Over the next 20 years, Latinos will comprise 70% of America’s net new homeowners and are essential to the future of our nation’s housing market and economy. The success of Latino homeowners and the American housing market have a mutual dependence and shared trajectory.
Despite these facts, public policies, business practices, and current housing market conditions create barriers that deny Latinos full access to the American financial system and prevent them from fulfilling their dreams of homeownership. The UnidosUS HOME initiative seeks to eliminate barriers and expand homeownership opportunities for Latinos across the United States.
UnidosUS will leverage our critical insight and longstanding reputation to reach our goal. We are investing in our national housing counseling network, strategically partnering with the Raza Development Fund – an UnidosUS support corporation and Community Development Financial Institution – leveraging our national Affiliate network, and deploying our expertise across policy and advocacy, programs, and communications.
To reach our ambitious goal, UnidosUS will deploy five strategies. First, we will foster policy change at both federal and state levels to improve homeownership outcomes for Latinos by altering the policy landscape to address systemic barriers. Second, we will deepen our understanding of the challenges and opportunities for Latino homeownership through research and data analytics via a collaboration with the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center. Third, we will elevate the salience of Latino homeownership to influence consumer awareness and expand support for Latino homeownership through storytelling and a national communications strategy. Fourth, we will expand the impact of our nationally recognized and culturally relevant programs by investing in our housing counseling and Affiliate networks. Fifth, we will build a collaborative movement. By deepening partnerships for a national movement to grow Latino homeownership, we will build a collective effort to close the racial and ethnic homeownership gap, and we believe the HOME Initiative is a catalyst for building an equitable homeownership market.
To learn more visit http://unidosus.org/homeownership.