Cook County Modular Homes Pilot Program helping aspiring homeowners realize their dream

A Cook County housing program is bringing new homes and potential financial assistance to working families in underserved communities.

In Chicago Heights, a local pastor is helping make that possible through a modular housing development.

The program is making the dream of first-time homeownership a reality.

Devon Jones said he'll be the first in his immediate family to become a homeowner once his new home is built.

"I never wanted to rent a home. I always wanted to own one. So, it's going to mean so much to me," he said.

Jones is taking part in the Cook County Modular Homes Pilot Program. The goal of the program is to make homeownership more accessible for working families in underserved communities.

"Chicago Heights is home. I was born and raised here," said Lawrence Blackful Jr., senior pastor of Bethel Baptist Church in Chicago Heights, and owner of Onyx Construction Design & Development.

His company is developing the modular homes like Jones' at Bethel Renaissance in Chicago Heights. Blackful is paid to develop the homes through the county program.

"The goal is to help rebuild this community along with other communities like it," Blackful said.

There are eight homes under construction at Bethel Renaissance. They range in price from $299,000 to $375,000. The plan is to build 600 homes in the community in the next five to seven years.

"Being a part of a project like this one allows us to bring quality affordable new housing to a community that has been long underserved for over five decades," said Sanina Ellison Jones, CEO and Executive Managing Broker at Re-CHRG, a real estate firm involved in the project.

When all the homes are sold, the money from the sale goes right back into the program to build the next phase of homes.

Chicago Heights is one of three communities in the pilot program, which offers up to $75,000 in financial assistance to qualified buyers.

"Once the house is selected, they go out and obtain a mortgage at their financial capability. They'll get a commitment from a lender, and then we take that against the home price, and that's basically the gap. And then we try to qualify them at that level," said Karl Bradley, Deputy Director of Housing at the Cook County Department of Planning and Development.

Jones said he can't wait to move into his new home with his grandmother. Now retired, Carole Jones is a former case worker for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. She has had custody of Jones since he was in 3rd grade. Now 28, he said the home is his way of giving back to her.

"It was something I thought I couldn't accomplish, but the more and more it get closer, it feels more real," he said.

Moving in is just months away.

"Just can't wait 'til January. Super excited," Jones said.