By: Hanna Guerrero  

December 18, 2025

On a quiet street in the southwest suburb of Lyons, Illinois, sits a modest home decorated with twinkling holiday lights and bright faux poinsettias. The owner of the home is 66-year-old Eulogio Carrera, who has spent decades rooted in the Chicago area.  

After living nearly twenty years in Cicero and a brief stay in Berwyn, he finally found a place to call home in 2017 with the purchase of a cozy three-bedroom house in Lyons.

He and his wife share the home with their two adult sons, filling it with the rhythms of everyday life and the hope of staying there for decades to come. From the moment they arrived, Eulogio poured himself into making the home truly theirs. 

“I put a lot of work into it when I arrived in 2017. I laid all the new flooring myself, in the kitchen, all three bedrooms,” he says with pride, “I told my wife, let’s get it all fixed up so we can stay here.”   

His home is also a space for his family to gather and celebrate.  

“My sister-in-law comes to visit from Mexico and has big parties and barbecues in our backyard,” he fondly shares.  

Still, even a cherished home isn’t immune to hardship, and escalating property taxes and health struggles threatened to undermine everything Eulogio had built.  

Eulogio first learned about The Resurrection Project’s Full Circle Homes, housing, and financial services through a friend in 2019. Since then, it has become a lifeline at a moment when rising housing costs and health challenges were beginning to weigh heavily on him. He was facing an escrow shortage due to rising property taxes and insurance premiums, and he feared falling behind. 

Unable to travel to TRP’s offices due to his health, he worked closely with Salvador Garcia, TRP’s Housing Stability Supervisor, over the phone and through email.

This year, Salvador guided him through the complex property tax appeal process and helped him secure several key savings tools, including the Homeowner’s Exemption, the Senior Freeze Exemption, and the Senior Citizen’s Exemption. 

Eulogio trusted TRP and Salvador to help ease his financial strain.  

“When my taxes went up… we talked, and I sent Salvador my information over email. I trusted him. I told him, «Do whatever you have to do. If there’s anything to sign, send it to me, and I’ll sign it.” 

During this same period, Eulogio underwent a life-saving lung transplant. Even while navigating one of the hardest moments of his life, he continued working with TRP’s Full Circle Homes team to keep his property taxes manageable and protect the home he worked so hard to build.

In June, his appeal was approved. Combined with the exemptions Salvador helped him obtain, Eulogio’s 2024 property taxes were lowered by $2,191—critical savings that eased financial pressure during his recovery.  

“Anything recovered from payments, from taxes, anything helps in this situation,” Eulogio says, “[TRP] has helped me with various things. It feels good to have this help.” 

“Our commitment is to our community—guiding families through housing counseling, foreclosure prevention, property tax appeals, and exemptions, while connecting them to resources that reduce the cost of homeownership, support property maintenance, and protect their assets so generational wealth can grow,” says Salvador Garcia.

Eulogio’s story is just one example of how The Resurrection Project assists families during their most vulnerable moments—protecting homes, preserving stability, and ensuring neighbors can age with dignity in the communities they love. 

In 2025, TRP’s Full Circles Homes has helped 447 homeowners, submitted 794 tax services with 389 approvals, saving families over $331,000 in property tax savings, and preventing 23 foreclosures, totaling more than $3.4 million saved in homes and equity.  

TRP’s Full Circle Homes team is here to support homeowners facing financial hardship from rising property taxes. Our housing stability officers can help you find solutions that work best for you. Call (312) 666-1323 to make a FREE appointment today.

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The Resurrection Project (TRP) builds trusting relationships to educate and propel individuals, immigrants, and families to achieve their social and economic aspirations, stable homes, and equitable participation in their community. TRP is a leading provider of affordable housing, financial education, and immigration services on Chicago’s Southwest side.

During the past three decades TRP has worked to improve the lives of individuals and families by creating wealth, building assets, and engaging residents to be catalysts for change. Rooted in the Pilsen community, TRP’s impact now extends across the City of Chicago and through the State of Illinois; we are making steady progress towards leveraging and preserving more than $1 billion in community wealth in 2025.