Despite soaring rental prices, diminishing COVID-19 housing resources and other barriers that minorities continue to face when it comes to finding housing, Latino homeownership in the U.S. is on the rise and is expected to increase by 70 percent over the next two decades. Helping make this statistic a reality is Spanish Coalition for Housing (SCH), a local housing counseling agency that works to narrow the homeownership gap here in Chicago by helping renters with the transition to first-time homeowners.  SCH works with and prepares historically marginalized communities to access the resources needed to reach their housing goals – whether their goal is to own or rent. The housing counseling agency provides the community with free educational services, counseling and hands-on workshops, including the affordable housing workshops as a part of the Chicago Housing Authority’s (CHA) Community Alliance. “In 2022, we were able to help 68 households to purchase and become first-time homeowners and over 1,100 households access affordable housing even as rental prices remain high on the other side of the pandemic. We’ve seen how the pandemic has prolonged housing inequity among our Latino and Black communities, and we want to help break that cycle and create opportunities for generational wealth through affordable and sustainable housing and homeownership,” said Joseph Lopez, executive director of SCH. SCH staff invites anyone interested in their services or anyone who has questions about available home buying or rental resources to email (help@sc4housing.org) or call for dedicated assistance (North Region: 773-342-7575; Southeast Region: 773-933-7575; Southwest Region: 312-850-2660).