Advancing Black Homeownership

Breaking down barriers: Habitat for Humanity Capital District joins national initiative to increase the number of Black homeowners in the U.S.

Habitat for Humanity Capital District is joining Habitat for Humanity organizations across the country to address the homeownership gap between Black and white households in the U.S., which is at its widest in 40 years. In Albany, NY, we one of the widest homeownership gaps between Black and white households in the entire United States.

Habitat’s Advancing Black Homeownership initiative marks a renewed commitment to deepen efforts and inject millions of additional dollars into the ongoing work nationally and at the local level to increase homeownership opportunities for Black households.

For more than 40 years, Habitat for Humanity has worked toward a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Our history began at Koinonia Farm, a racially integrated working farm founded in 1942 outside of Americus, Georgia, and we remain committed to working to advance racial equity. Many families, and Black Americans in particular, face obstacles to homeownership due to the lingering effects of racially discriminatory housing policies.

Habitat for Humanity’s vision is a world where everyone has a decent place to live, but a structure of intentional and systemic racial discrimination in the U.S. has created barriers to homeownership for many Black families.

Systemic discrimination has persisted into present policy, from redlining to inequitable access to mortgage credit. Taken together, these practices are barriers to saving for a down payment, getting a loan and affording a home – and they threaten the vitality and prosperity of every community.

Across the U.S., Black families are less likely to own their own homes than white families. During Habitat’s 45-year history, our work has helped close that homeownership gap. In the Capital District, Black homeowners make up more than 60% of the families who have partnered with us to buy their own home since 1988. But we must do more.

“Habitat is an established affordable housing leader, both as a developer and mortgage provider in the U.S.,” says Tawkiyah Jordan, Habitat for Humanity International’s senior director of housing and community strategy. “Our experience and scale uniquely position us to increase Black homeownership, a commitment we want to make absolutely explicit.”​​​

Read more about Habitat for Humanity International’s Advancing Black Homeownership initiative.