LadderUp Housing

We are excited to announce Tom Voutsos, MBA '22, founder and CEO of LadderUp Housing, as one of the Rustandy Center's SOCAP Global26 Fellows. The company tied for second place in the 2021 Edwardson SNVC. LadderUp Housing purchases and renovates homes, rents them to workers building their credit scores, and then sells the home to the tenant when they can attain traditional mortgage financing. Voutsos and four other UChicago social entrepreneurs will be at SOCAP next week. For those attending, we hope you will connect with the Rustandy Center and this year's Fellows. Find out more about LadderUp's mission >> https://lnkd.in/gHCU8SyT

I'm thrilled to be heading to SOCAP Global here in Chicago next month, where five social entrepreneurs from the The Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation will be presenting their ventures. Chad Wilson, Daniel Buckman, Keenan L., Julian Kage, Tom Voutsos, and I'm excited to be there with The Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation colleagues Kia Christie Coleman, William Colegrove, Elena McNab, MBA, MA, Christopher Schneider!

Meet Tom Voutsos, Founder & CEO of LadderUp Housing and a SOCAP Global26 Fellow, in partnership with the The Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation. What if the path to homeownership didn’t begin with a mortgage—but with a pathway to becoming mortgage-ready? Tom Voutsos is building that pathway. As Founder & CEO of LadderUp Housing, Tom is rethinking how working-class families can move from renting to owning, particularly those who have demonstrated their ability to pay rent but face barriers to traditional mortgage financing. LadderUp buys and renovates homes in communities with affordable housing stock, then works with residents as renters while they build credit, savings, and mortgage readiness through personalized coaching. When they’re ready, they can purchase the home they have been living in—creating a direct pathway from housing stability to homeownership and equity. The model is rooted in a bigger idea: housing can be more than a place to live. It can be an asset that helps families build long-term wealth and remain rooted in the communities they already call home. LadderUp’s philosophy—“Same Neighbor. New Homeowner.”—is ultimately about creating a path to ownership rather than simply providing another rental option. Tom’s own journey reflects the kind of cross-sector thinking we’re excited to bring into the SOCAP26 Fellows community. After seeing firsthand the barriers families face in accessing affordable housing, he launched LadderUp while earning his MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. The venture went on to become a finalist in Booth’s Social New Venture Challenge, and Tom became a Tarrson Social Venture Fellow through the Rustandy Center. That combination of entrepreneurship, capital, housing, and economic mobility is exactly the kind of systems-level leadership we’re excited to bring into the SOCAP26 Fellows community: leaders who are not simply addressing the symptoms of inequality, but creating new pathways for people to build lasting security and wealth. We’re thrilled to welcome Tom to SOCAP26 in Chicago this October in partnership with the Rustandy Center and to continue the conversation about housing, capital, economic mobility, and what it takes to build more equitable pathways to ownership. Get to know Tom and follow along as we spotlight the SOCAP26 Fellows building the future we want to see. #SOCAP26 #SOCAPFellows #RustandyCenter #AffordableHousing #Homeownership #CommunityWealth #EconomicMobility #ImpactInvesting #HousingJustice #Chicago #SharedProsperity

#ManeuverableMoneyMonday with a #shoutout to the team LadderUp Housing. In a world where almost all essential costs - healthcare, food, housing, gasoline and the like - are on a seemingly run away train it’s refreshing to see a company providing a viable solution for #homeownership Far from a PE model, the founders have created a homeowner friendly solution to home ownership. Navigating the complex of multi variable (renovation, financing, work with non profits, conversion) to A+ execution that’s a win for everyone - homeowner, investors and company employees. #FeelGood

Thanks to Directions Credit Union for funding our 100th home acquisition and Louisville Title Agency for supporting all of our acquisition work! The result - new homeowners like Nate, who was profiled in this The Blade article. Excited to announce that two more residents recently joined Nate in becoming new homeowners. https://lnkd.in/gBYZueif

Proud to work with Louisville Title Agency! They do a wonderful job, and we really appreciate their support as we deliver our alternative pathway to homeownership.

Thank you to Pulse 2.0 for sharing this story on the important story of LadderUp Housing, a startup that seeks to open the life-changing door of home ownership to more people. The Foundation has invested in LadderUp through the Foundation’s Social-Impact Investment program. As LadderUp CEO and Founder Tom Voutsos said, “Homeownership remains one of the most important wealth-building opportunities for working families, yet millions of Americans remain locked out of traditional mortgage pathways. This investment from the Richard King Mellon Foundation allows us to expand our model into a new market in Western Pennsylvania and help more families achieve long-term housing stability and financial mobility.” #philanthropy #housing #homeownership #socialimpactinvestments #economicdevelopment #economicmobility https://lnkd.in/g-a7pssu

We’re proud to announce that LadderUp has secured a $250K investment from the Richard King Mellon Foundation to help expand our rent-to-homeownership model into Western Pennsylvania, including Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. This capital supports our mission to create alternative pathways to homeownership for working families through home acquisitions, renovations, and financial coaching that helps renters become homeowners. We’re grateful for the support of our employees, partners, and the families we work with as we continue to preserve affordable housing opportunities, revitalize neighborhoods, and help more families build long-term wealth through homeownership. Also, a big thank you to Sarah Wolak of HousingWire for covering the news in this great piece: https://lnkd.in/gDSEFW8N Read the full announcement here to learn more: https://lnkd.in/g-PfDa7W #SameNeighborNewOwner

New look, same mission. 🏠 We’re thrilled to announce that the new LadderUp Housing website is officially LIVE! Our refreshed site offers a clearer look at how we work with clients to make them mortgage ready and the impact we continue to have in the communities we serve. Take a look around and let us know what you think: 👉 www.ladderuphousing.com