CCLF Profile: Stone Soup Cooperative 1The folks at Stone Soup will tell you that they could not have afforded to stay in Uptown--much less become homeowners--as many of them are artists or work in low-paying "social justice" jobs.
But that is the beauty of cooperative housing: it allows people who would not otherwise be able to afford single-family homes (or even the rising cost of traditional rental apartments) to become homeowners. Low equity contributions, pooled resources and shared costs make housing co-ops affordable over the long-term, even in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood like Uptown. Plus, with Stone Soup's "joy and justice" philosophy, these folks enjoy coming home to fun, supportive, like-minded housemates.
The unique challenges of a cooperative ownership structure, however, often force people to settle for expensive financing from out-of-state lenders. But CCLF saw an opportunity to promote homeownership by providing affordable "mini-mortgage" financing to low-income and limited-equity housing cooperatives. So Stone Soup secured its first loan from CCLF, a $355,000 loan at an affordable interest rate, in August of 2000, which enabled them to acquire and rehabilitate a property that comfortably houses 11 of its members.