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:

The Surprising Lives of Germany’s ‘Basic Income’ Raffle Winners

From Marjolein Koster, Ties Gijzel / Reasons to Be Cheerful: A randomly selected group of lucky Germans are reaping the benefits of a guaranteed monthly income. An organization raffles off a year’s worth of guaranteed monthly income, allowing recipients to...

Conversation with Noor Jehan Docrat

Noor Jehan is an Inclusive Innovator and Blue Economy specialist, leading community development programs across Africa. With extensive experience in various sectors in South Africa, Southeast Asia, and the UK, Noor Jehan is passionate about working with communities to create...

Conversation with Julia Hotz

Julia Hotz is a solutions journalist and author of THE CONNECTION CURE: The Prescriptive Power of Movement, Nature, Art, Service and Belonging, the first book chronicling the science, stories, and spread of social prescribing. Julia Hotz spoke with Ashley Hopkinson...

Conversation with Kari Wolanksi

Kari Wolinsky is the acting director of the Center for Social Data Insights and Innovation at Statistics Canada. She previously worked at the Department of Finance designing Canada’s Quality of Life framework. Kari Wolanksi spoke with Ashley Hopkinson on March...

Conversation with Jack Henderson

Jack Henderson is a digital democracy researcher with RadicalxChange Foundation, the ERC’s BlockchainGov project, and the Coalition Of Automated Legal Applications. He holds a degree in economics from Princeton University. Jack Henderson spoke with Ashley Hopkinson on February 21, 2024....

California helps college students cut their debt by paying them to help their communities

From Gail Cornwall / The Hechinger Report: In an effort to help lower student debt while benefiting the community, the #CaliforniansForAll College Corps program provides 3,200 students with service jobs and pays them $700 a month. Click here to read...