Habitat For Humanity Is Putting $25 Million Towards Closing the Black Homeownership Gap

The racial homeownership gap is higher than it’s been in over four decades. Habitat for Humanity’s starting a new $25M initiative to change that.
Written by R.E. Fulton
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
Habitat for Humanity International is launching a new initiative, called Advancing Black Homeownership, to close the racial gap in American homeownership
That gap currently stands perilously close to 30%, according to recent Census Bureau data. That’s the highest it’s been in over four decades. In other words, the state of Black homeownership hasn’t changed much since the 1980s. 
Habitat for Humanity hopes to change that. Thanks in part to a $436 million donation from MacKenzie Scott, the organization is preparing to invest millions of dollars in programs to address racial inequality in the housing market. 
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Closing the Black homeownership gap means addressing over a century of inequality

Advancing Black Homeownership
is more than a fundraising project, although Habitat for Humanity says they hope to raise an additional $100M over the next three to five years. And it’s more than a way of offering new benefits to individual families that partner with Habitat to build their homes. 
It’s a bold move to shift goalposts driven deep in US history over a century ago. The $25M that Habitat’s earmarked to invest in Black homeownership over the next three to five years will go towards programs designed “to help Black families build intergenerational wealth through homeownership and other strategic supports,” says Adrienne Goolsby, the senior VP for the organization’s North American division. That means addressing a century of discriminatory housing policies head-on
What’s Habitat’s plan to change history? The Advancing Black Homeownership initiative will include programs such as: 
  • Financial coaching and counseling for Black families
  • Equitable commercial lending strategy and property acquisition fund
  • Partnerships with affordable housing organizations 
  • Expansion of the
    Cost of Home
    advocacy campaign 

How Habitat for Humanity will put Black voices at the center of the new campaign

Black homeowners are already a key part of the Habitat for Humanity community. In FY 2021 alone, 43% of the families who built homes with Habitat were Black, reflecting the significant disadvantage that Black Americans still face when it comes to homeownership. 
But to succeed, the Advancing Black Homeownership initiative will need to do more than serve Black homeowners. Habitat emphasizes the importance of including Black voices and communities in the program through a Black homeowners advisory group as well as community partnership.  
Ultimately, Habitat’s aim isn’t just to close the racial gap in US homeownership. The organization’s bigger goals include building intergenerational wealth in Black communities and promoting overall diversity in the housing market. 
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