by Diana Pando
When Lidia Huante moved to Chicago, she never imagined living in a cramped apartment. In Seattle, she had always been a homeowner. However, after her husband passed, she accepted a job offer in Chicago. She moved into an apartment in the Bridgeport neighborhood. The transition was difficult for her.
“I lived in an apartment above a restaurant and the smell of grease would come through the vents,” recounts Lidia. “During the heat wave, the apartment didn’t have air conditioning or fans.” Nostalgically she said, “My husband always made sure we could afford a home.”
Shortly after she arrived, she began her new job in the Pilsen neighborhood. She began meeting community residents, including local artist Francisco Mendoza. They became friends and he told her about The Resurrection Project’s (TRP) home ownership program. He had just gone through the program himself and purchased his own home through TRP.
Lidia felt hesitant. She didn’t have any savings for a down payment and was unsure if she qualified to purchase a home. When her daughter moved into the tiny apartment, Lidia decided to explore other housing options.
“Buying a home in Chicago began to make sense,” she said. “We didn’t want to pay rent anymore and we wanted something comfortable.” She and her daughter decided to pool their resources and save as much as they possibly could.
To get her on the path to homeownership, Lidia enrolled in TRP’s homeownership workshops. After much struggle and sacrifice they were able to save up the money for a down payment. “Homeownership workshops like TRP’s are not always available in other communities,” she said. “When I went through the program, they made sure I was qualified and I felt hopeful I could buy a house.”
During the spring of 1998, she closed on her first home in Chicago. Lidia remembers going to the closing and feeling nervous and hoping nothing went wrong. She felt a great sense of relief when they handed her the keys to her house—a new home constructed by TRP.
The years passed and the Huante family enjoyed their new home. However, during the 2008 recession, the unthinkable happened. Lidia got laid off from her job of ten years.
Lidia and her family had worked so hard to buy a home and now they were struggling with the mortgage payments. Determined not to lose their home to foreclosure, they prioritized their mortgage payments.
“They were lean and difficult years but thank goodness we managed somehow,” she recalls. This time, TRP’s free foreclosure prevention counseling helped her keep the home she had worked so hard to purchase. With TRP’s help, the family was able to stabilize their situation and keep their home.
For the last 25 years, TRP has helped hundreds of people like Lidia achieve their dream of homeownership and also helped those struggling to keep their homes from foreclosure. As part of TRP’s Vision 2020 plan, TRP has increased its homeownership workshops and other services. Recently, TRP also launched the Imagine More Campaign to raise $25 million to fund this vision. This will allow TRP to do more in five years than in the last 25 years.
This effort will provide the financial resources necessary to leverage more than $460 million in community investment by 2020. As a steward of community assets, TRP will impact an even greater number of people in the Chicagoland area like Lidia by creating or preserving 822 housing units and more than 157,000 square feet of commercial and community facilities.
Today, the home Lidia and her family fought so hard for has become a childhood home for a new generation.
“In the back yard there is an apple tree, a table with an umbrella, and a slide for my two grandchildren,” said Lidia excitedly. “The Resurrection Project did something great by working with people to become homeowners. Today, my family and I continue to be proud Pilsen homeowners.”
How has The Resurrection Project helped you or your family? Let us know at [email protected].

Would you like to purchase your own home or need help keeping your home? Learn more about our free homeownership workshops and foreclosure prevention program here.