Impact Report: How TC Habitat is Closing the Homeownership Gap for Foundational Black Families
Intimately tied to the so-called “American Dream,” owning a home is an engine of generational wealth for millions of people across the United States. But historic and ongoing policies have created unjust barriers for Black people, leading to dramatic and entrenched inequities in homeownership and wealth.
Many organizations across sectors have created programs aimed at eliminating racial inequities. Still, even the most well-intentioned nonprofits often lack the capacity or skills to create solutions that are directly shaped by the people they seek to serve. With the support of Research in Action, though, Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity (TC Habitat) has achieved dramatic improvements in its homeownership and financial coaching program.
In 2020, the nonprofit began a project with RIA, working directly with Foundational Black Households (descendants of U.S. enslaved people) who participated in their programs, listening to their expertise around what would improve their success, and, most importantly, putting their recommendations into action. At the start of the project, white participants had a closing conversion rate double that of Foundational Black Households (16% vs. 8%), despite having very similar application rates. Because of changes implemented after the recommendations of RIA’s research, TC Habitat has effectively closed the gap between white and FBH conversion rates (23% vs. 22%).
“This is the most that we’ve seen Foundational Black Homebuyers in our program since I’ve been here,” said Shereese Turner, TC Habitat’s Chief Program Officer. “So the changes that we’re making and the policies that we revisited are contributing to more individuals getting access to the program and then successfully completing the program.”
How did they make such gains? Perhaps the most important component: the expertise of impacted community members.
One of the central recommendations from our initial work together urged TC Habitat to “implement a participant-centered approach and cohort model to increase collaboration.”
In 2023, TC Habitat did just that, launching a cohort coaching model that centers the needs of FBH through culturally relevant peer-to-peer coaching and community connections, and a curriculum that includes healing from financial trauma and developing financial resilience. They’ve also been committed to implementing changes to respond to program participants’ needs in real time. For example, securing childcare was a barrier to participants’ participation in coursework, so TC Habitat secured funding to provide childcare vouchers for participants. That sense of agency and community has made a big difference for participants.
“Being in the room with all the other people, [it provided] encouragement,” a current program participant said in describing the cohort model. “Even the people that were there with me, I felt like they all were going to become homeowners…While you’re in the six week training, you feel like Superman or Superwoman...Like, you can do it… I would definitely recommend it.”
In alignment with participant leadership, we also urged TC Habitat to “collaboratively redesign eligibility requirements and delivery methods” — a recommendation they’ve taken seriously and one that’s resulted in significant, community-driven changes.
Most notably, TC Habitat created the Advancing Black Homeownership Program, which includes more flexible underwriting criteria (such as alternative credit requirements) and additional financial assistance that clients can use toward savings requirements or down payments. They also reevaluated the role of criminal background checks, now only reviewing for criminal sexual and arson convictions. Recognizing that many families do not have the time to complete 350 hours of volunteer service to become homebuyer ready, they also eliminated sweat equity as a program requirement.
“I think it’s a great resource, especially for Foundational Black Americans, because a majority of us don’t have the resources to be able to buy a home on our own,” a program participant and successful homebuyer said. “I didn’t think homeownership was in the cards for me.”
In May 2024, Habitat also initiated a new iteration of an advisory council to be consulted as program changes continue to be implemented. “There are other projects that we’re doing that we will use this group to check us,” Turner said. “Are we off base? What should we do differently? That’s the group that we go to if we need another set of eyes or ears on a project.”
For Turner, that’s one of the core organizational shifts that has propelled TC Habitat’s success: listening — and taking action.
“The reality is that you will learn what needs to be done if you just listen,” Turner said. “People will tell you what their needs are, right? And that's exactly what we got from the advisory council. They told us what the challenges were. They also told us how to undo or eliminate barriers.”