Resist the urge to publish the American Dream’s obituary. It’s alive, though unwell. It’s no secret that the hallmarks of the dream have become unreachable for many Americans. Homeownership seems impossible in communities. Marriage rates have dropped. Families have shrunk. Even lifespans are on the decline. The dream’s vital signs are cause for immense concern. There are signs of life—Washington County, Wisconsin is testing two remedies that might just revive the dream there and across the country.
Just north of Milwaukee, Washington County is—in many ways—a surprising source of hope. It faces no shortage of challenges. As County officials will tell you, they’re struggling to hold on to their community members. Too few homes, too few jobs, and too few community connections led many residents to look for another place to call home. County Executive Josh Schoemann, however, refused to let the dream die in his community. He and others joined together to brainstorm novel cures for the disease eating away at prosperity.
Washington County is conducting two experiments of national significance. The first is the Next Generation Housing Initiative. Established in 2021, the program aims to remove five main barriers to increasing the supply of affordable housing: high development costs, expensive down payments, zoning barriers, access to nearby meaningful employment, and community support. They expect that addressing these issues head-on will allow them to build 1,000 homes tailored to middle-class families by 2032. As of early 2025, 210 homes had already been approved for funding, with 56 homes currently under contract or sold.
There’s plenty of reason to believe they will continue to succeed and, ultimately, reach their goal. First, they’ve left politics at home. The coalition behind the Initiative includes representatives from a range of communities and stakeholder groups. The County has also held several ad hoc working group events with realtors, lenders, educators, builders, nonprofit and faith leaders, and planners. In short, County officials have committed themselves to making their county one where people not only stay but one that actively draws more people in.
Second, they made solving basic needs a priority. The County received and accepted recovery funds in the wake of the pandemic and directed them toward recovery efforts on lost revenue. Come 2032, communities around the country should look to Washington County and see how they can emulate the initiative’s success.
Another project will also warrant adoption across the country as an American Dream stimulant. The Heart & Homestead Earned Down Payment Incentive is at once helping people find a place to call home while also helping them build community. The incentive is simple: receive up to $20,000 in down payment incentive when purchasing a home and, over the next five years, "earn" that support through community service.
The county rightfully recognizes that there’s a real financial benefit to a community in which volunteerism is a norm. For every hour of service volunteered at a local nonprofit or religious institution, a homeowner will earn $25 of the incentive. For every dollar donated to participating groups, $0.70 is earned. What’s more, the whole family can help out—contributions from anyone living in the home go toward the incentive earnings. In the event the homeowner opts not to take advantage of those volunteer and donation opportunities, the county will receive any portion of the incentive that is not earned over the course of five years upon the eventual sale of the property or transfer of the deed.
Washington County is on to something big. The American Dream is suffering because we’ve lost focus on its core components: a quality home, a quality job, and a quality community. Communities that dare to prioritize those basics, however, are proving that the dream is not dead but simply neglected. We can choose to build. We can choose to cultivate strong communities. We can choose to place people over politics.
First image: Moreno and Joe Medina in the mail room. Medina has worked there since 2019 and was a former Keys to Change client. Second image: Medina sorts through envelopes to find mail for the unhoused community the facility serves. Ash Ponders for ProPublica