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:

Universal basic income transfers better than subsidies; Madhya Pradesh model shows improvement in living standards

From Sunil Jain / The Financial Express: SEWA-INBI pilots a basic universal income program for two villages in Madhya Pradesh. These funds enabled residents to pay for facilities and electricity in their homes, buy better cooking fuel, increase the weight...

Slowly but surely, Kigali city is reclaiming streets for people

From Nadia Lobti / The New Times: Twice a month the city of Kigali has a “Car Free Day,” a program that reduces air and noise pollution while simultaneously encouraging residents to be more active via walking, biking, and other...

Conversation with Sabrina Habib

Sabrina Habib is a social entrepreneur & global leader advocating for quality childcare, early childhood development, and women’s economic empowerment. She is the Co-Founder and CEO of Kidogo, the leading childcare network in Kenya, serving over 38,000 young children in...

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 Yuliya Panfil

Yuliya Panfil is a senior fellow and director of New America Future of Land and Housing program. Prior to joining New America, Panfil worked at Omidyar Network, where she sourced and managed property rights investments, and as a land governance...

Conversation with Natalia Linou

Natalia Linou (Linos) is a policy specialist at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Her current role as part of UNDP’s HIV, health and development team is focused on the prevention of non-communicable diseases and on developing an emerging area...