Chaffee Housing Trust empowers low-income residents to achieve homeownership through personalized financial counseling, mortgage education, and partnerships that remove barriers like down payments and private mortgage insurance to help make safe, affordable housing attainable for working families across the community.

With 2025 CAR Foundation funding, the Chaffee Housing Trust (CHT) will expand its Homeownership Program to help more working families achieve stability through affordable homeownership. The grant will sustain critical staffing, outreach, and operational needs helping to ensure residents in Chaffee and Lake Counties can access personalized housing counseling, financial education, and mortgage guidance.

Through this investment, CHT will continue offering one-on-one coaching with the aim of helping clients repair credit, build budgets, and navigate the homebuying process from prequalification to closing and post-purchase success. These services, provided in English and Spanish, empower families who may have believed homeownership was out of reach to gain the confidence and tools needed to secure lasting housing stability.

CAR Foundation’s grant will also strengthen local partnerships, such as CHT’s collaboration with High Country Bank, to help make zero-down, affordable loans available for qualified buyers. By investing in this work, CAR Foundation will help transform the housing landscape in rural Colorado and create pathways for families to build equity, strengthen their communities, and achieve the security of homeownership for generations to come.