Put down roots.
A familiar street. A front porch. The feeling of being right where you belong.
A home. A foothold. A future.
Make room
for possibility.
A home of your own.
A future on your terms.
Your own ground. Your own way.
A wide-open future.
Five views of a wide-open future.
The promise behind the name
A place to stand.
A life to build.
Freedom can begin with something as simple as a key that’s yours. We believe the people who make a community work should have a chance to call it home.
Choose your direction.
Make a place your own, and make room for the life you want to live.
Build what lasts.
A stable home can be the beginning of something that reaches beyond today.
1831 to now
Every generation
had a frontier.
Two centuries of Americans claiming a place of their own, in the kind of pictures they kept. Somewhere along the way, the pictures went grey.
1831
Claim it.
1831–1889
1831Neighbors pool their savings In Frankford, Pennsylvania, the first American building and loan lets working families save together and buy homes.
1862160 acres & a sod house The Homestead Act: live on the land and work it for five years, and it is yours.
1869Coast to coast The transcontinental railroad is finished in Utah. The whole West opens up.
1889The land run Oklahoma opens at noon, and tens of thousands race in to stake a claim.
Build it.
1926–1956
1926Pack the car Route 66 is laid out from Chicago to the Pacific.
1936The lights come on Rural electrification brings power lines to the farm.
1947A house of our own The GI Bill backs home loans, and new suburbs rise from potato fields.
1956See the USA Congress approves the interstate highways. Everywhere is within reach.
Reach for it.
1969–2005
1969A new frontier, straight up Crowds pack the Florida beaches to watch Apollo 11 lift off for the Moon.
1974We built it ourselves Back to the land: hand-built cabins, big gardens, a mountain view.
1985Cul-de-sac summers Bikes until the streetlights come on.
1993Our first backyard A starter home, a minivan, sparklers at dusk.
1999Dial-up to everywhere The internet is the new frontier. Please don’t pick up the phone.
2005Boomtown New houses as far as the eye can see.
Peak frontier.
2012–2019
2012Go west, again Road trips, trailers and tailgates at golden hour.
2015Rockets that land A booster flies back and lands upright. The future feels close.
2017The whole country looks up A total eclipse crosses the continent, coast to coast.
2019Peak. Mostly. Everyone films the sunset. Cranes on every corner. Rent up again.
The grey years.
2020–2026
Indoors The world stays home. Home gets smaller.
Rates doubled Thirty-year mortgage rates go from about 3% to about 7% in a single year.
Scrolling Listings you can’t afford, from an apartment you don’t own.
Is this it? Beige, grey, delivered. The frontier looks closed.
Next.
20__
20__Yours The frontier never closed. It is waiting for someone to claim it.
Illustrative AI-generated pictures made in the style of each era’s cameras and film. They are not historical photographs.
A place to put down roots.
A home that
feels like yours.
The front porch. The familiar streets. The room to grow. Homeownership should be within reach of the people who make a community work.
From possibility to a plan
Your path home
01Understand your readiness
02Find your community
03Explore your assistance
One clear step at a time.
A clear path.
A lasting foothold.
Understand your budget, your options, and the gap between them. Explore assistance designed to help you buy a home and keep it.
Park RidgeEvanstonElmhurstHinsdale
Your next frontier.
Closer to home.
You can begin a new chapter in a place you already love. The first fund focuses on established communities in Chicago’s suburbs.
Find your communityThe promise is
worth building.
A little ground. A wide-open future.
Help a working household turn a hopeful someday into a place of their own.
The courage to begin
A new way
forward.
Room to become
Put down roots.
Raise your sights.
The freedom to belong
A place to
call yours.
Our Western imagery expresses a spirit of possibility. Program communities begin in Chicago’s suburbs.
A few good questions.
Who is this for?
The program is designed for working first-time buyers purchasing a primary residence in a covered community. Household readiness, lender approval, and program eligibility all matter. Read the full criteria.
How does the assistance work?
The first fund’s proposed structure uses recoverable assistance to reduce the size of the first mortgage. The assistance has no monthly payment, and is repaid on sale or refinance, together with a share of appreciation as set out in the agreement. Explore the terms.
Where does the first fund begin?
On Chicago’s North Shore, in Park Ridge and Hinsdale, and in the near-west suburbs. Explore the published community profiles to understand local affordability and the places covered.
When can I apply?
Applications open as each cohort is funded. Exploring the program is a first step, and does not indicate that assistance has been approved or reserved.