In Chicago, approximately 25% of homeowners face an undue housing cost burden, spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs like mortgages, taxes, and utilities. While lower than the rate for renters (which approaches 48%), homeowner cost burdens have concentrated heavily among lower-income and fixed-income residents.
We have a growing housing crisis in Chicago, and across the country. Homeownership is one of the most dynamic tools a person can use to build a strong and stable future. However, it is a tool that far too many women are unjustly denied access.
From the gender pay gap and its impact on credit profiles, to uneven childcare responsibilities that consume time and financial resources, to higher rates of mortgage denials despite superior payment performance, the hurdles keeping women from homeownership are high.
This October, I'm grabbing my hammer, strapping on my tool belt, and joining Habitat Chicago's Women Build alongside hundreds of determined women to knock these barriers down. Together, IFF team members will help our fellow women become homeowners with Habitat Chicago, a nonprofit committed to championing healthy neighborhoods by investing in resident priorities, building quality homes, and supporting homeownership.
You can make a difference by helping me reach my fundraising goal and prove that there's nothing a group of committed women can't do.
Change happens one person at a time. I appreciate any support you can give - big, small, or somewhere in between.
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