Nehemiah: Making the American Dream possible for first-time homeowners

From CBS News: The Nehemiah project began in the 1980s building privately-owned homes on land that nobody wanted in East Brooklyn and sold the homes at prices that were affordable to working class families. Church and community organizers mobilized local politicians to sell the land for almost nothing and provide subsidies for community members and raise money that could be used for loans. The program has built 6,500 homes and created an estimated $1.5 billion of wealth for first time Black and Latino homeowners.

Click here to read the original story.

Issue Areas:

Housing, Land Use, Sustainable Development

Impact Areas:

Distributed Trust and Power, Equity

Actors:

BIPOC Communities, Lending, Banking, and Financial Institutions

Communities Served:

BIPOC Communities, Communities Experiencing Economic Hardship

Strategies:

Collective Action, Easing Economic Burdens for Individuals, Redefining Land / Land Ownership

Success Factors:

Building Distribution Systems, Eliminating Barriers, Embracing the Power of Relationships, Leveling the Playing Field, Meeting People Where They Are At, Overcoming the Big Challenges

Geographic Region:

North America

Countries:

United Kingdom

Date:

September 11, 2022

More Resources:

Conversation with Thomas Legrand

Thomas Legrand is the Lead Technical Advisor for the UNDP-convened Conscious Food Systems Alliance (CoFSA). He holds a Ph.D. in Economics and has 20 years of experience in sustainable land use, climate change, sustainable finance, leadership, and developing inner capacities...

Conversation with Sheeza Shah

Sheeza Shah is Founder and Managing Director of UpEffect, a crowdfunding and social impact consultancy shaping a benevolent economy through equitable finance and strategy. Sheeza has spent the past decade in the tech, non-profit, and social enterprise world project managing...

Conversation with Beth Sawin

Elizabeth Sawin is the Director of Multisolving Institute. Beth is an expert on multisolving actions that address equity, climate change health, well-being, and economic vitality as integrated issues. She developed the concept after studying bright spots around the world where...

Conversation with Ai-jen Poo

Ai-jen Poo is the President of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and Director of Caring Across Generations. A nationally recognized expert on elder care, family care, the future of work, gender equality, immigration, and grassroots organizing, she is also the...

Aging states to college graduates: We’ll pay you to stay

From Jon Marcus / The Hechinger Report: As their workforces age, states across the United States are offering student loan repayment to incentivize college graduates to stick around. Now Maine and Vermont are the first to offer it to those...

Conversation with Tara Campbell

Tara Campbell (she/her) is a designer specializing in change-enabling collaborative processes. In her role at the David Suzuki Foundation, she is working alongside a national network of organizations, alliances, and individuals to accelerate the transition to economies that prioritize wellbeing...