Nearly half of U.S. adults are interested in buying a home, according to a recent national survey from NeighborWorks® America. But 38% of Gen Zers and 32% of Millennials fear they’ll never actually own one. Still, there are people out there showing that it can be done.

Shannon Ogden, a new homeowner who identifies as Gen Z, always thought she’d own a home someday. But the mental health therapist feared it might be years before she did.

Just before the pandemic, St. Mary Development Corp. began exploring technology as a way to keep older adults in the organization’s Dayton, Ohio, community linked with the outside world and with one another. Five years later, the organization remains more convinced than ever that technology is a key to keeping people engaged. What’s more, says Natalynne Baker, executive vice president of the organization, those who don’t learn new technologies risk missing out, losing their voice and losing access to some types of care. 
In what’s being called “the first of its kind” in Cleveland, the Lotus housing development is offering stable housing and workforce development training to formerly homeless young adults aged 18 to 24. Developed by CHN Housing Partners, a member of the NeighborWorks network, the Lotus is designed to support young people who have aged out of foster care. It provides them with safe, stable, affordable housing, along with services aimed at helping them become self-sufficient.

National Homeownership Month celebrates the importance of homeownership in the United States. NeighborWorks America, along with the NeighborWorks network, celebrates homeownership year round  and centers housing counseling as a way to help people decide if homeownership is right for them and, if it is, to help them down that path. 

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