CHICAGO – Governor JB Pritzker has announced the reopening of a homeownership program designed to help working class families and underrepresented communities of color across the state of Illinois.
Offered through the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA), the Opening Doors or Abriendo Puertas program is designed to aid lower-income borrowers and households of color who have historically faced steeper barriers in their path toward homeownership with $6,000 in forgivable assistance for down payment and/or closing costs.
This latest round of assistance is funded through $10 million in Rebuild Illinois capital funds and is expected to assist more than 1,600 homebuyers.
“For generations, home ownership has paved a pathway to prosperity for working families,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Unfortunately, Black and Brown people who sought to achieve this, faced insurmountable odds and, because of a prejudiced system, were left behind. We are righting that wrong and breaking down barriers with this round of funding.”
Originally launched in Dec. 2020, Opening Doors assisted more than 5,800 first-time and repeat homebuyers with $35 million in Rebuild Illinois capital funds.
The program is designed to increase home purchase accessibility for low- and moderate-income qualified homebuyers across Illinois.
This includes Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, who pay hundreds of millions in federal, state and local taxes, yet struggle to find mortgage lenders and programs that will work with them.
“Traditionally, buying a home has been the most common strategy for working families to put down roots in a community and build household wealth,” said IHDA Executive Director Kristin Faust. “The Opening Doors program will make these opportunities possible for so many families and I want to thank the Governor for his leadership in finding new ways to invest in Illinois’ people and communities.”