New York, N.Y. (July 10, 2025) – Today, ideas42 announced the cohort of organizations participating in the second year of the Credit: Expanding Opportunity (C:EO) initiative. Supported by JPMorganChase, the initiative brings together housing services organizations to apply behavioral science principles to make it easier for people with low-to-moderate incomes to buy and keep homes. This builds upon C:EO’s first year, which focused on credit-building for consumers with sub- and near-prime credit scores, a prerequisite for accessing homeownership.
This second cohort includes Self-Help; Manna, Inc.; Preservation of Affordable Housing; and Foyer to enable consumers to leverage their credit to access homeownership and its wealth-building potential.
The Role of Homeownership in Strengthening the Financial Health of Families
Despite working to build and establish credit histories, individuals and families with low-to-moderate incomes aspiring to homeownership face significant hurdles, including high housing prices and interest rates. While a range of resources, products, and programs exist to help close this gap—including down payment and closing cost assistance as well as specialized loan options—the complex processes of navigating eligibility requirements, managing extensive paperwork, and understanding the complexities of the mortgage market compound affordability challenges, even for people with credit scores that should make homeownership possible.
Moreover, for current homeowners, the financial burden of maintaining properties can severely deplete limited savings intended for essential repairs or renovations; or hurt credit scores if there is a missed payment or additional lines of credit taken out. Although certain support services are available, such as mortgage reserve accounts and repair assistance programs, many homeowners remain unaware of these options or face complexities in navigating these programs, hindering their ability to maintain their financial health and preserve or grow the equity in their homes.
ideas42 is leveraging 15 years of behavioral science expertise to provide actionable strategies to help cohort organizations address these challenges and to design products and services with a behavioral lens that meet clients’ needs and goals.
“While a house is an investment and a key source of wealth for families, the opportunity to own a home is even more important: a welcoming refuge for extended family, a place to educate their children and an opportunity to put down deeper roots in a community,” says ideas42 Managing Director Evelyn Stark. “Homeownership offers an unparalleled sense of security and permanence, reducing the cognitive burden of instability. This allows families the time and bandwidth to build their financial health by planning and strategically managing income and building wealth, yielding positive outcomes that extend well beyond the front door, today and for future generations.”
Support from JPMorganChase to Drive Impact at Scale
JPMorganChase’s support for the C:EO initiative is a part of the firm’s holistic approach to advancing financial health outcomes, particularly within underserved communities. Across products and services, and through support for innovative philanthropic solutions, the firm is committed to helping consumers access, build, manage, and protect their credit, and tap into wealth building opportunities.
“Homeownership is a major life milestone and an essential opportunity for building wealth — for individuals, their families, and their communities,” said Mercedeh Mortazavi, Head of Financial Health at Global Philanthropy for JPMorganChase. “Without financial stability and resiliency — such as savings and credit — to access homeownership, families face increased risks of instability, which can have ripple effects throughout their communities. At JPMorganChase, we strive to help create economic growth for all and foster a financial system that is safe, effective and accessible. By partnering with organizations like ideas42, we aim to help families achieve financial stability and build lasting wealth through homeownership.”
About ideas42
ideas42 is a nonprofit that applies insights from behavioral science—the study of how people make decisions and act in the real world—to improve lives and drive social change. Working globally, we reinvent the practices of institutions, and create more effective products and policies that can be scaled for maximum impact. We also teach others, ultimately striving for a future where the universal application of behavioral science powers a world with optimal health, equitable wealth, and environments and systems that are sustainable and just for all.
For the past 15 years, we’ve been at the forefront of applying behavioral science to create a more equitable world. And as we’ve developed our expertise, we’ve helped to define an entire field. Our efforts have so far extended to 50+ countries as we’ve partnered with hundreds of governments, foundations, NGOs, private sector entities, and philanthropic leaders.
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See more about the second cohort of C:EO partners:
Nonprofit Partners
The Center for Community Self-Help
The Center for Community Self-Help (CCSH), which includes Self-Help Credit Union and Self-Help Federal Credit Union, is a multifaceted organization dedicated to fostering economic opportunity for underserved communities through a comprehensive approach encompassing both direct financial solutions and strategic systemic change. Their direct financial solutions include providing fair and affordable financial services and responsible lending to homebuyers, businesses, community facilities, and nonprofits. They specialize in delivering innovative mortgage products and recently added maintenance reserve accounts protecting homeowners against financial shocks and repair needs. Their strategic systemic work involves advancing policy research and advocacy at the state and federal levels focused on fair lending and other consumer finance practices, aiming to reduce the systemic barriers that impede the financial stability and homeownership journeys of the households they serve.
Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH)
POAH is a nonprofit organization focused on revitalizing and preserving at-risk affordable housing communities with a goal of creating vibrant, healthy homes for low- and moderate-income residents. To achieve this, POAH takes a comprehensive approach, combining direct housing and resident services with strategic community development. Their direct efforts involve acquiring, developing, and rehabilitating affordable housing properties across multiple states, ensuring their long-term affordability through robust property management, and delivering holistic resident services that include financial health initiatives. This work is exemplified by their long-standing partnership with Compass Working Capital, a nonprofit who will partner with POAH in this program. Through this partnership, they serve over 300 families annually.
Manna is a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding affordable housing opportunities and fostering inclusive, healthy communities in Washington D.C. To achieve this, Manna takes a comprehensive approach, combining direct development and robust client services with strategic policy advocacy. Their direct efforts include developing and managing high-quality affordable homeownership and rental communities, alongside providing extensive homebuyer education, housing counseling, and financial capabilities workshops to thousands of residents annually. Simultaneously, Manna engages in strategic public policy advocacy at all government levels, informing housing opportunities and empowering residents to drive community change.
FinTech Partner
Foyer is a fintech company focused on providing users with personalized homeownership preparedness alongside dedicated First Time Homebuyer Savings Accounts (FTHSAs). Foyer uses savings (and 401k-like savings match) as an entry point to providing users with a cohesive journey which includes resources, service providers, and steps they need to take to achieve homeownership.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Cameron French, cameron@ideas42.org
