Chase 3C Initiative

Los Angeles, CA—Over the next three years, the Connecting Capital and Community (3C) initiative,
funded by JPMorgan Chase, will attempt to address the racial inequities at the core of the housing ecosystem. Working with the Center for Community Investment (CCI), Chase has tapped six teams from across the country to deploy this initiative. CCI works to ensure that all communities–especially those that have suffered from structural racism and policies that have left them economically and sociallyisolated–can unlock the capital they need to thrive. The nationwide effort is being deployed in six cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Detroit, Miami, and Washington, D.C.

In communities of color, the inequities in homeownership are sobering, with only 44% of Black Americans owning their home in 2020 compared to 74% of white Americans (source Redfin.) About 32% of housing units are owner-occupied in South LA, and single-family homeownership is out of reach for low and moderate-income households. According to RealtyHop’s housing affordability index, an average family living in Miami, Los Angeles, or New York would have to dedicate over 80% of their annual income to housing to become homeowners. The remaining 20% would have to be enough to cover every other expense.

Here in Los Angeles, Genesis LA, a community and economic development organization, has convened a working group that includes the Coalition for Responsible Community Development (CRCD), Community Coalition (CoCo), Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC), OffTop Design (OTD), and T.R.U.S.T South LA. Together, with a Resident Council comprised of community members, these groups will develop strategies to 1) bridge the wealth and housing gaps by creating opportunities beyond the traditional single-family home model and 2) support Black and Brown community members in attaining homeownership in South Los Angeles. The team’s short-term goal is to create feasible and scalable development models with the long-term goal of increasing the homeownership rate among Black and Brown families in South LA by 5 percent.