23 July 2023
Before Shereese Turner started her job at Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity in 2018, she asked her friends and family what they knew about the housing agency.
Shereese Turner, chief program officer at Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, who was on the frontlines of the organization’s efforts to better serve American descendants of chattel slavery in their first-time homebuyers program. (Courtesy of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity)
“A lot of people didn’t know much about it, but the few that did all said that Habitat doesn’t work with Black people,” she said.
This reputation concerned Turner. Once she started working as chief program officer, Turner and the Habitat for Humanity team began an internal investigation, and combed through data from the past 30 years to see who their resources were really serving.
“That aggregated data was very clear that we’ve served about 85% people of color, but the bulk of the folks that actually close on a home successfully were East African immigrants,” Turner said.
Meanwhile, American descendants of chattel slavery – also called foundational Black Americans – had some of the least success in the homebuyers program despite being the second-largest pool of applicants, she said.
Building a new table
Disturbed by this data, Habitat got to work with Research in Action, a nonprofit research education organization. CEO Brittany Lewis’ first suggestion for Habitat was to “build a new table.”
“This can be an action committee or an advisory board. And community members need to be the majority at the table,” Lewis said.
The community members on Habitat’s new advisory board were mostly foundational Black folks who had tried to use Habitat’s resources. Many had negative experiences or were unable to complete the program.
After a number of conversations, Habitat staff learned that many of the foundational Black clients felt unseen and unsupported by the program. Housing advisers often managed up to 100 cases each and were unequipped to address the financial stress many of their clients struggled with.
Other participants had been accepted to Habitat’s program, but could not be approved for a mortgage because of Habitat’s requirements for credit scores. The overwhelming response from foundational Black participants was that they didn’t feel heard or seen by Habitat’s homebuyers program, Turner said.
“We missed the ball, and we really had to listen to those who had worked with us to learn about their experience. It was hard for me to listen to how bad an experience it was for some people. The reality is, we’ve done harm,” she said.
‘Be willing to share power’
So, Habitat created the Foundational Black Homeowner program specifically designed to advance homeownership among descendants of chattel slavery. In response to community feedback, they made their advising system more personalized and created ways for homebuyers to communicate with each other to build community.
Habitat also changed the way they assessed credit scores, so applicants bogged down with student loans or health care debt could still qualify for the program.
Lewis admits that accepting feedback and making changes like Habitat did is hard, and Research in Action’s clientele is small because so many companies don’t want to get uncomfortable.
“You have to humbly admit you are part of the problem, and be willing to share power,” she said.
Recuperation of family inheritances
The city of St. Paul has also been making similar efforts to own up to the harm it caused to the historically Black neighborhood of Rondo. Just this year, Mayor Melvin Carter launched the Inheritance Fund, a first-time homebuyers program that provides extra financial support to descendants of old Rondo.
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter at a news conference in St. Paul on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2023. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
“We know that 700 families were uprooted to build the freeway, including my grandparents. They were given pennies on the dollar. In doing so, my family inheritance was gutted. That’s why it’s called the Inheritance Fund. We’re trying to facilitate the recuperation of those family inheritances,” said Carter.
The Inheritance Fund is an extension of the city’s existing down-payment assistance and homeowner rehabilitation programs. Those who apply as descendants of old Rondo can receive an additional $50,000, plus another $10,000 for those wanting to buy homes in the historic Rondo neighborhood.
“We have a really bad history in America of the government telling poor people where they can live. We wanted our participants to feel like they can live anywhere in the city, but we also wanted to reinvest in the neighborhood,” Carter said.
The Inheritance Fund resembles a similar housing effort in Illinois, where the city of Evanston passed a reparations law in 2019 that distributed $400,000 to 16 Black residents in the form of housing grants.
One of the major critiques of Evanston’s program is the city calling the housing program “reparations,” when the effort has only helped a small portion of Black families and only provides money through grants instead of the families directly. Carter has been intentional about not calling the Inheritance Fund a reparations effort.
“One of the reasons I have declined to call it reparations for old Rondo is because people have estimated $150 million of wealth were decimated from that community when the interstate was built. Until I have a pot of money that is even close to that sum, it would be disingenuous to call it reparations,” he said.
The response to the Inheritance Fund has been strong, with 385 applicants indicating they would qualify for its benefits. The application portal has been frozen for the time being because there isn’t enough funding to even get through the initial stack, Carter said.
However, if the program becomes a sustainable fund for the hundreds of individuals applying, it could eventually become reparations for those who were displaced from Rondo, he said.
Despite being a new program, the Inheritance Fund has already assisted two descendants of Rondo close on their home, and have another couple of houses pending.
Allowing for solutions
Things are looking good for Habitat for Humanity’s new program, too. Twenty-three people have closed on homes through the foundational Black housing program so far, and the number of foundational Black participants Habitat serves has more than doubled in the past year.
Danielle Duncan, director of equity at Habitat, says this change is a result of reimagining how to provide service based on who had the least success in Habitat’s programs.
“The organization lifted up the hood and saw some things that were not good. And they could’ve been OK with still touting that they served over 80 percent people of color, but they didn’t. And that acknowledgement that they did something wrong is what allows for solutions,” Duncan said.
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