By Maneeya Leung
In Dane County, only 13% of Black households own their homes compared to 64% of white households. Whether it be due to redlining or prohibitions to generational wealth, systemic barriers contribute to the racial disparity in homeownership well into today.
That’s where Own It steps in: Providing educational courses and down payments to first-time homeowners, Own It empowers Black and brown communities to build generational wealth through homeownership while supporting them every step of the way.
“Too good to be true”
Renting for a family of eight in Madison is no simple task, but Quintella Cruz was content with her place on the West Side until her landlord informed her of their plan to increase the rent by $500 per month over the next year.
“We were already paying $2,300 in rent,” Cruz said, “so it was just a considerable amount.”
Fortunately, Own It had partnered with One City, where Cruz works as a senior administrative manager and enrollment specialist. Upon hearing about Own It’s educational programs to support aspiring new homeowners, Cruz said, “It was too good to be true.”
“The classes, teaching about building Black wealth and home ownership - normally, you have to pay for those sorts of things,” Cruz said. “This was being offered free of charge.”
Cruz was interested in Own It’s program, but she was also apprehensive about what to expect. She faced self-doubt as someone who had never owned a home before.
Cruz’s family had saved up a down payment for a home before, but uncertainty from COVID-19 disrupted their plans. Cruz had to dip into those savings for day-to-day expenses, and as the money fizzled out, so did her home-buying dreams.
With Own It and the impending new expensive lease in the picture, however, the next step seemed to line up for Cruz.
“Once we heard about that rent increase, I’m like, ‘Okay, you know what? Let’s just do it and see what happens,’” Cruz said, and she took the leap with Own It.
“We saw the Own It program as an opportunity for us to get back into the process of buying a home,” Cruz said. “I never expected that I would get selected, or even that we would find a home as quickly as we did.”
In November 2023, Cruz signed up with Own It and completed the organization’s educational program. By February 2024, she was applying for Own It’s grant. She was almost immediately accepted.
By July 2024, Cruz and her family were in their new home.
Cruz’s house search was around the same time her landlord was pressuring her to renew the more expensive lease. Cruz wasn’t certain she’d be able to find a house, but with Own It’s grant on her side, she took what she calls a step of faith.
“I thought, let me just give it a shot and see if this works out. I was super surprised and grateful. It just seemed like everything lined up.”
A worthwhile course
In Own It’s courses, which cover financial literacy and homeownership and are a prerequisite to qualify for a purchasing grant, Cruz enjoyed learning about goal-setting, others’ situations with home-owning and policies that historically prevented Black people from homeownership.
Cruz especially appreciated the financial planning portion of the class, saying they took a “deep dive into my finances” that was “very humbling but also eye-opening.”
Without a mentor or guidelines, financial planning was difficult to do on her own, Cruz said. Having the help of mentors who could answer questions and flesh out ideas made it that much easier.
The knowledge she gained through the course paid off soon after she’d bought her own home. A month into moving in, the water heater broke. Insurance and the homeowner’s warranty didn’t cover it, but thanks to Cruz implementing Own It’s saving lessons —she’d already started an emergency savings fund— she had money in reserve to pay for a new one.
With a mentor having her back
Of course, it’s the people who make the program, and one of Cruz’s fondest memories was working with the mentor, Grace – who will only be using her first name here – whom Own It assigned to her.
Grace helped Cruz through the difficulties in purchasing a new home, dealing with paperwork and understanding her next steps.
“She’s amazing. I love her to death,” Cruz said.
“There were times where I called her just to ask basic questions. There were times where I called her for encouragement when I felt like I was close to giving up,” Cruz said.
One moment in particular where Grace pulled through was when Cruz applied for her mortgage pre-approval.
Cruz was already dealing with the uncertainty and stress of trying to apply for the approval under a deadline. It only got worse when she called her longtime bank for help finding the documents the application required, but no one helped her.
She called Grace, frustrated. “I told her, ‘I don’t think I’m going to be able to get this done,” Cruz said.
But Grace kept Cruz going, recommending a contact that could help. She stayed on standby to encourage Cruz and ensure she gathered all the needed documents well into the evening.
“You could tell that she really cared and that she was really rooting for me,” Cruz said.
Even now, Cruz feels Grace’s support is still there for her.
“I still have her number, and I feel like if I call her right now, she’d be available. She’s just a great person all around,” Cruz said.
The moment of moving in
After the grant and all the applications went through, Cruz was ready to find her new home. The search wasn’t easy. Madison’s market was not friendly to buyers. In the city, offers were competitive, and many of the places she saw weren’t up to Cruz’s standard. In the end, she found a place in Dodgeville.
The commute to school and her kids’ friends is far, but the increased travel for a home where they’re paying less in mortgage than they would in rent is a reasonable trade-off, Cruz said.
The moment of moving into the home was worth it.
“It was amazing. It almost felt like it wasn't real. For quite a while, I was just in disbelief,” Cruz said.
“At the closing, I was actually in tears because I just couldn’t believe it. I felt like I had finally done something that I thought I would be unable to do. I was really proud in that moment,” Cruz said.
Growing up, Cruz was raised by a single mom, and their family struggled with renting, moving and housing insecurity.
“I knew very well what hardship was,” Cruz said, “and I knew that that wasn't something that I wanted my children to have to go through as well.”
With Cruz’s husband growing up in a similar situation, neither of them had inherited the generational wealth or knowledge of homeownership. Own It made it possible to bridge that gap.
On top of that, Own It was the only help Cruz received for a down payment. She didn’t qualify for other government or city resources.
“Not everyone’s situation is the same as this cookie-cutter format that they lay out,” Cruz said about other options.
“I think something like Own It is very valuable to our community,” Cruz said. Particularly for people of color “who don’t have a great history of generational wealth in this country.”
