This Kansas City nonprofit has found a way for more Black residents to buy their own homes

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The Cann home in the east Kansas City, Missouri, neighborhood of Linwood Homeowners-Ivanhoe, hums with activity on a recent winter night. 15-year-old Tajaun Cann, a high school basketball star, fills his water bottle before heading out to evening practice. Tamia Cann, 22, a student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, is preparing to go to an evening church service after a long day of college classes. Their mother, 41-year-old Jermonica Cann, a Black woman, bailiff for Jackson County Family Court and aspiring entrepreneur, is hunting for her purse.

Cann spent her childhood living in subsidized housing. The walls were thin and she could hear her neighbors in the apartment next door. As a young adult, she dreamed of owning a home, but as the sole breadwinner, her finances prohibited it.

“I think at that time, and I’m not even going to lie to you, I probably wasn’t even making $17 an hour,” said Cann.

Today, she is proud to say she owns her own home. “Something about being a single mother and being able to say to your kids, ‘this is what I’m working for.’”

But many Black families aren’t in a position to say that. Recent data from the Kansas City Urban League found that the number of Black Kansas Citians who own homes has declined in recent years. Long standing, racist practices such as redlining labeled prospective Black buyers a high risk for mortgage lenders and bankers because of where they lived.

Now, the national nonprofit Habitat for Humanity has a program aimed at increasing the number of Black residents who own their own homes.

Systemic barriers

At the end of her rope with the challenges of renting, Cann remembered her mother received help from Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit established in 1979 and known for building affordable homes. In 2023, the Kansas City chapter had launched a program to teach financial literacy and other skills designed to boost homeownership in Black communities. She enrolled in the special course — Advancing Black Homeownership — that offered one-on-one counseling, accounting and how to deal with banks. Cann even took maintenance repair lessons in how to do minor fixes without having to call a costly handyman.

She says the classes demystified homeownership, empowered her and gave her the confidence that as a single woman, owning her own home was not only manageable, but exciting.

She’ wants other women in her community to have that same experience.

“They feel like it’s a whole bunch of burden. And it’s really not,” she said. “I’m ready for an upgrade!”

Building trust 

Habitat KC launched its program when it saw that Black homeownership was falling: A 2.5% decline to 43% in 2023, according to the Urban League of Greater Kansas City.

For white, non-Hispanic people, the homeownership rate was nearly 73% that same year. Black residents also had a mortgage application denial rate more than double that of white applicants.

Habitat KC CEO Lindsey Hicks says the organization is doing everything in its power to close the gap, but historical barriers are hard to overcome.

“Any time that we can bring in a service that helps these families to stay in their communities, but also to be a louder voice in their community, is definitely something we want to focus on,” Hicks said.

In virtual classes monthly on Tuesday evenings, Habitat matches participants with financial experts who offer guidance on navigating the complicated process of getting a loan and purchasing a house.

Last year, the program served 495 households through either one-on-one counselling or group gatherings.

They don’t have data on how many graduates purchased homes, but of the 122 families who participated, 25% qualified for a mortgage and were declared purchase-ready.

“We’re providing tangible resources in partnership with these families while addressing systemic barriers,” Hicks said.

History of discrimination

Before The Fair Housing Act of 1968, The Home Owners Loan Corporation, a New Deal-era program designed to help low-income homeowners, systematically denied mortgage applications to Black people for decades and practiced racially biased real estate policies in Kansas City.

A 1930s map, provided to KCUR by the Mid America Regional Council, shows how the Loan Corporation colored Kansas City’s Black neighborhoods in red, indicating areas where residents were classified as high risks for lenders.

Those living in the red areas typically were denied loans.

Director of the Office of Economic Research at MARC, Frank Lenk, said the legacy of redlining is evident today, even though the Home Owners Loan Corporation was disbanded in 1954.

“Things like unconscious bias and other factors can enter into the homeownership, the home lending,” he said.

MARC data indicates 11% of Black Kansas Citians were denied home loans compared to 5% of white Kansas Citians in 2023.

“It’s fairly clear that still people of color are being denied at higher rates than white people,” said Lenk.

The problem is exacerbated by the historic income disparity due to a lack of access to high wage jobs.

“The lack of generational wealth to be able to have a down payment, (financial) education doesn’t overcome those.”

According to a study by Habitat KC that looked at median income by zip code and race, in the 64130 zip code in the eastern section of Kansas City, populated mostly by people of color, the median household income is around $40,000. In the 64113 zip code, including Brookside and the Country Club Plaza residential areas, with a predominantly white population, the median household income is more than four times as high — $176,000.

Similar disparities are seen across the country.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, homeownership among Black Americans has fluctuated from a high of almost 49.7% in 2004 to 46.4% last year.

But the number of Black households owning homes has remained below 50% for more than three decades.

Nationwide, fewer Black people own homes than people in other communities of color, and at significantly lower rates than in white communities, where homeownership was 74% at the end of 2024.

The impact of inflation

Tenesia Brown, CEO of Keys Realty in Kansas City, Missouri, knows well the barriers prospective Black home buyers face. Half her clients are Black.

She recently showed a four-bedroom home to a single Black mother, a nurse with four kids. The house, in the predominantly Black neighborhood of Blue Valley, was listed at $115,000.

The former owner’s dirty, old furniture was still there. Windowsills and photos were dusty. The air was stale.

“So the homes that (were in her) price range aren’t up to the best standards,” said Brown.

Her client prequalified for a $110,000 loan. Another home in better condition would be out of her price range, Brown said, due to the inflated cost of housing today.

“Wages haven’t increased to allow them to compete in today’s housing market,” Brown said. “That $200,000 home is now $350,000.”

Brown set out a goal in 2022 to create 1000 Black homeowners. She almost made it — selling to 880 people as of February 2025.

“We should’ve hit that goal a long time ago, but financial mishaps happen,” she said, and as a result, lenders get skittish.

“This alters or delays the chance of homeownership for some people,” she said. “That’s disappointing to them and they don’t get back on track to wanting to become a homeowner.”

She hasn’t given up on that goal, but affordable homes are increasingly hard to find as prices, and interest rates, remain high. Income for her clientele isn’t keeping pace.

What’s needed, argues Habitat’s Lindsay Hicks, is for mortgage lenders and banks to be convinced that most of these potential buyers are a reliable investment.

“It’s banking partners, and not being able to have that trust there,” she said. “And so really working with our banking partners to come from a place of understanding.”

In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity has had slightly more success with the same program. Their Advancing Black Homeownership Program had 119 participants with 59 successfully closing on homes.

Paying it forward

Across town, the two Cann siblings are bickering with one another. Their mother is still looking for her purse.

Jermonica Cann said she’s getting involved with Habitat’s program to boost Black home ownership so hers won’t be the only house on her block that’s owner-occupied.

She said her kids don’t realize how privileged they are. But one day, she’s sure they’ll understand.

“This is what I’m bringing you,” she tells them. “This home is ours,”