Building Generational Wealth:
The Ascension Partnership

KIPP NC is partnering with Charlotte-based Ascension CDC to offer Big KIPPsters access to essential home-buying equity, below-market home prices, and tools designed to build generational wealth.

In an exclusive partnership, KIPP NC and Ascension Community Development Corporation, a non-profit development organization, are teaming up to offer a game-changing benefit to KIPP Charlotte employees and Charlotteans on the KIPP NC Regional Support Team. 

Starting in the fall of 2025, Ascension will invite a select number of  Big KIPPsters into the first cohort of their WealthPath-Homeownership Program designed to provide participants with access to essential home-buying equity, below-market home prices in their Legacy at Paw Creek community on the west side of Charlotte, and tools designed to enhance financial literacy and help build generational wealth.

Charlotte’s Housing Crisis & Economic Mobility

Charlotte faces a growing affordability gap, especially for middle income households. Rising interest rates and house prices, along with the impact of COVID-19 on housing supply, continue to make homeownership unaffordable for many families.

Ascension CDC, a Charlotte-based 501(c)(3), is transforming attainable housing by creating mixed-income communities that empower households to build generational wealth through homeownership. Ascension provides education in home maintenance, financial literacy, and planning, ensuring sustainability and economic security.

Partnering to Address the Problem

KIPP NC and Ascension are partnering to start addressing Charlotte’s housing crisis for educators. Ascension and Kingdom Development Partners, in a special partnership with KIPP NC, are proud to offer attainable, for-sale homes exclusively for KIPP NC educators.

Through this program, KIPP NC educators will have the opportunity to purchase a home in one of Ascension’s thoughtfully designed mixed-income communities, with pricing based on an educator’s income—not the market. This initiative is designed to help KIPP NC educators build long-term wealth, achieve housing stability, and live in an inclusive community, thereby strengthening both participants’ neighborhood connections and financial futures.

Partnership Benefits

Attainable Homeownership

  • Homes priced for teachers earning 80–110% of AMI (Area Median Income)
  • Affordable pricing model based on income, not market rate

Accelerated Equity Building

  • Opportunity to build wealth faster through homeownership
  • Increased opportunity for economic mobility

Wraparound Homebuyer Education

  • Financial Literacy (budgeting, credit, savings)
  • Home Maintenance Training (preserving home value)

Down Payment Assistance 

  • Opportunity to increase home equity and affordability through down public and private payment assistance programs

Other

  • No unexpected moves, lease terminations, or rent hikes—giving you and your family lasting peace of mind
  • Stronger sense of community identity, investment, and belonging
  • Your home, your rules. You can make improvements, plant a garden, or paint your walls, etc.

Interested in Joining Our Inaugural Cohort?

The partnership will launch with a first KIPP-Ascension cohort in the Fall of 2025.

To learn more and express your interest in joining this inaugural cohort:

Attend a Session

We will be hosting two info sessions for KIPP NC educators in the coming weeks. Check your KIPP NC email accounts for more information and for RSVP details! (We will be sharing a recording of the session to KIPP NC staff after the sessions have completed.)

Submit an Application

Once you’ve learned more in a session, we will email all attendees a link to an application due in the early fall. Check your KIPP NC email addresses for more information. 

Cohort Selection

After all applications have been submitted for the Fall 2025 cohort, KIPP NC leaders and Ascension staff will select those KIPP NC educators who will be asked to join our initial cohort. 

Cohort Launch

Once all selected members have been notified and secured, Ascension will launch the programming for our first cohort! We anticipate that programming to start in early Fall of 2025.

All interested educators should carefully read the information shared on this website and in the emails sent to your KIPP NC accounts. If you have questions, please direct them to the Ascension staff listed in the emails!

Info sessions will be held in late July and early August 2025!

The application and selection process will begin shortly after.