Political rhetoric is at a fever pitch as another historic election approaches. Among myriad divisive topics, there’s one that both sides of the aisle agree on: the need for affordable housing. It’s a need that requires ideas and action from all directions, no matter the political party affiliation. And while people from all backgrounds can benefit from affordable housing, the racial disparities in Minnesota homeownership rates are particularly dismal, with the Black homeownership rate at only 29% compared to 77% for White homeownership.
A national spotlight will be on these issues and potential solutions when the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project comes to St. Paul this fall. Just weeks before the election, this weeklong event will bring together politicians from both sides of the aisle, celebrities, corporate sponsors and more than 4,000 volunteers from across Minnesota and the country.
Amid the spectacle is one resounding fact: although rising home values and high interest rates make the housing market feel inaccessible, homeownership is closer than many think. As the chief program officer for Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, I know there are several misconceptions about who qualifies for homeownership through Habitat for Humanity, with many believing that homes are built and “given” to low-income families. This is not the case. Habitat home buyers must have stable income to qualify and commit to paying a long-term, affordable mortgage. The average household income to qualify through Twin Cities Habitat is $50,000 to $100,000 or more, depending on household size, and potential buyers must meet financial requirements to participate in Habitat’s TruePath Mortgage program.
Twin Cities Habitat is on a mission to close our region’s racial gap in homeownership. In 2019, we conducted an internal study and disaggregated our client data to distinguish between Black applicants who are U.S.-born (also called Foundational Black Americans) and Black applicants who are immigrants. We discovered that Foundational Black households were the second largest racial group who applied to the program but were the least likely to succeed in closing. In 2019, only 8% of homeowners who bought homes with Twin Cities Habitat identified as Foundational Black Americans.
Since then, we launched a new Advancing Black Homeownership program to offer additional resources, more flexible criteria, and culturally-relevant financial coaching for Foundational Black homebuyers. In the first 19 months of this groundbreaking program, 46 Foundational Black households achieved homeownership.
We also removed a steep barrier to our program by eliminating “sweat equity,” which required Habitat homeowners to spend a certain number of hours working on their home or someone else’s. The sweat equity requirement created an unintentional barrier for those who had to take unpaid time off work or pay for childcare to meet the requirement. We replaced it with the optional Volunteer and Learn program, which provides education, volunteer opportunities and community building for future and current Habitat homeowners.
Today, thanks to these efforts, Foundational Black households make up 22% of Twin Cities Habitat’s homebuyers. We continue to partner with immigrant communities and other communities of color. While there’s still room for improvement, our racial equity work captured the attention of Habitat for Humanity International. As a result, Twin Cities Habitat was selected to host the 2024 Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project, which takes place Sunday, Sept. 29, through Friday, Oct. 4. The project will officially launch Twin Cities Habitat’s construction efforts at The Heights housing development on St. Paul’s East Side; applications from prospective homebuyers are now being accepted at home.tchabitat.org.
Among the notables reporting for construction duty will be musicians Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, who will swing hammers as ambassadors for Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter’s passion project. This year’s event takes on a special meaning as Jimmy Carter’s 100th birthday lands on Oct. 1 — which also happens to be the event’s “Red Blue Build” at which politicians are invited to put aside their differences and build together. That evening will feature a concert for the community, the Build Forward Bash, to celebrate the historic build on former President Carter’s 100th birthday and kick off our Build Forward Together campaign.
While the Carter Work Project will shine a light on affordable housing in our community — and nationally — for one week this fall amid the runup to the election, I hope that Twin Cities residents will remember that homeownership is closer than they think for long after the event.
Shereese Turner is the chief program officer for Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity. She has been with the organization since 2018 and has served on several boards of directors for housing-related organizations.