Addressing Past Injustices and Wealth Building for the Future: Housing Reparations

A nascent approach that is usually part of a broader racial equity and economic justice agenda, housing reparations attempts to redress historical injustices from historic racist housing and lending policies and resultant wealth inequality tangibly and symbolically.

Homeownership reparations programs have dual purposes – wealth building and atonement. Affordable homeownership programs through down payment grants, shared equity homeownership models, and access to low-cost financing, among other tools, offer the potential to address the homeownership gap and build generational wealth for households of color who were previously excluded from economic opportunities. Incorporating reparations as part of the program is intended to partially compensate for discriminatory housing policies and practices, including redlining, appraisal bias, segregated credit and financial systems, and residential segregation.

Please join Asset Funders Network on May 21, 2024, from 1-2:15 pm ET to learn about varied approaches for foundations who strive to balance housing justice and equitable wealth building for Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and other impacted residents by listening to the voice of the community, understanding the local context, and repairing tangible, direct economic harm. Ultimately, reparations for past economic and housing harms is a multisystem, multisector endeavor. Philanthropy can play various roles to support reparations-focused housing programs directly and/or systems change efforts that reinforce the impacts of such programs by addressing the interconnected aspects of lending and real estate.

Accessibility Statement
Captioning will be provided.  If you have any other accessibility requests or questions, please email Nikki Armstead at nikki@assetfunders.org.  Requests for reasonable accommodations must be received by May 7, 2024, to ensure our ability to meet your request.