THE CAUSE: Reducing racial disparities in the housing industry during National Fair Housing Month via Miami Valley Fair Housing Center.
THE CHALLENGE: Start your fitness tracker and keep track of your minutes of activity! For every 37 minutes of activity, we will donate $2 to Miami Valley Fair Housing Center. Post a screenshot of your stats from your tracking device’s app in the discussion section of our Facebook April 2022 event page, tag us in a post on Instagram (special instructions apply), or submit your results manually on our website. This challenge runs from 4/15/2022 to 4/29/22 at 11:59 EST. Submissions will be accepted until 5/1/2022 at 11:59 PM EST.
THE WHY: The Fair Housing Act of 1968 makes it illegal for housing providers to discriminate against others when buying or renting a home or seeking housing assistance. Yet, discrimination is still happening. Here in our home state, the gap between Black and white homeownership has been steadily growing since 2006. “The racial gap in homeownership between Black and white Ohioans is 37 percentage points–9 points higher than the national gap” (Fiscal Year 2021 Ohio Housing Needs Assessment). When looking at cost burden, Black homeowners are twice as likely to be severely cost burdened, meaning they spend more than half of their income on housing (Fiscal Year 2021 Ohio Housing Needs Assessment).
There are many ways in which racial disparities still exist within the housing industry. Black potential homebuyers are 16% more likely to be denied a mortgage than their white counterparts. Black Ohioans are disproportionately represented in the homeless population. As with previous challenges, intersectionality plays a big role in these disparities. The historical practice of discriminatory public policy such as redlining, race-based zoning ordinances, predatory loan practices, and explicit exclusion from federal homeownership programs have all contributed and still impact housing segregation and disparities today (Solomon et. al.). Homeownership is one avenue to wealth-building and housing racial disparities contribute to the ever widening racial wealth gap (more on that in a later challenge). For now, it’s time to raise some money to make housing accessible for all.
“Fiscal Year 2021 Ohio Housing Needs Assessment: Executive Summary.” Ohio Housing Finance Agency. 2021. https://ohiohome.org/hna-20/executivesummary-hna.aspx
“Racial Inequities in Housing Fact Sheet.” Opportunities Start at Home. 2022. https://www.opportunityhome.org/resources/racial-equity-housing/
Solomon, Danyelle, et. al. “Systemic Inequality: Displacement, Exclusion, and Segregation: How America's Housing System Undermines Wealth Building in Communities of Color.” Center for American Progress. 7 Aug 2019. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/