D.C. is investing in increasing homeownership among Black residents as data shows a drop.
Mayor Muriel Bowser announced plans Monday including a $10 million fund designed to help African Americans afford buying a home.
New homeowner Brittany Freeman and her two children will soon move into their new home with help from programs put in place by the District government.
“My children’s father died about a year ago from COVID, and just navigating single parenthood and trying to buy a home at the same time was kind of difficult,” she said Monday.
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She’s the first of her siblings to own a home.
“Before that, all we knew was poverty and government assistance. Before that, I was on Section 8, I was on welfare, food stamps and everything. I worked really hard — spent a lot of nights in the library to get my bachelor’s,” Freeman said.
Home ownership among African American D.C. residents has been on the decline, with 46% of households owning their home in 2005 and just 34% in 2020, data from the mayor’s office shows.
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The Black Homeownership Strike Force issued recommendations Monday on reversing the trend, including use of the $10 million fund. The task force also found other causes for the decline, including residents not being able to afford to keep up homes that their parents previously owned.
Bowser spoke about helping residents handle property after a death in the family, and offering help with repairs and maintenance.
District websites provide resources for legal help, tax help and financial help so that more residents can become homeowners as Freeman did.
“Being able to have that generational wealth for my children is the most awesome thing about this program” she said.
Visit Blackhome.dc.gov and frontdoor.dc.gov for information and resources.
