Housing Partnership Network’s Post

💙 As we celebrate Juneteenth this week, it is crucial to reflect on the impact of slavery and systemic racism on the development of our nation's infrastructure as an industry. 🛣 The creation of America's highways, often seen as symbols of progress and freedom, came at a significant cost to Black communities. 💲 During the mid-20th century, under the guise of "slum clearance," highway construction projects disproportionately targeted Black neighborhoods. Thriving communities were destroyed, displacing families and businesses, and reinforcing segregation. 🚫 The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, while heralded for its contributions to national connectivity and defense, facilitated the destruction of many Black urban areas. Highways were deliberately routed through these neighborhoods, leading to long-lasting economic and social repercussions. 🏛 For instance, in New Orleans, the Claiborne Expressway devastated a bustling Black business district, turning a once-vibrant community into an area plagued by economic decline. 🏗 In Miami, the construction of Interstate 95 devastated the Overtown neighborhood, once a vibrant cultural and economic hub for Miami's Black residents. Homes, businesses, churches, and schools were razed, displacing thousands and dismantling the community's social fabric. 🚧 In Birmingham, Alabama, the construction of Interstate 65 in the 1960s is a prime example. It was strategically placed to create a physical divide, ensuring that predominantly Black neighborhoods remained isolated from White communities. 🚗 In Atlanta, the construction of Interstate 20 cut through neighborhoods like Sweet Auburn, a historic center for African-American commerce and culture. 🚛 Addressing these historical injustices requires intentional efforts in urban planning and policy reform. 🛠 If you are interested in how to address these problems in your own neighborhoods, please visit the U.S. Department of Transportation's page on the Reconnect Communities and Neighborhoods Grant and other sources in the comments below 🆘 As we honor Juneteenth, let us commit to building a future where infrastructure development fosters unity and equity.🖤 DON'T JUST "LIKE", PLEASE RESHARE TO SPREAD THE KNOWLEDGE Blythe Brumleve Lars Ward Don Everhart Thomas Wasson Mary O'Connell Brielle Jaekel Brad Jacobs Charley Dehoney 🚚🤓 Jett McCandless Brian Laung Aoaeh, CFA Jennifer Karpus-Romain Kameel Gaines Brian Owens Sr. Jorie Myers Brittany Traylor Melanie Patterson David McElroy III Corisa Carter Sam Agyemang Marcus Cooksey Victoria Nelms Chandria Marks VONTYNA D. Ladda Love Hawkins, TRIP Amanda Miller Cassandra Gaines Will Hunter Will Jenkins Matt Silver Sharae Moore Sharm Chelliah Sidney Miller Sidney D. Abby Hamm, MBA Holly LaBoda Logistics Girlie Leah R. H. Robinson, APR Ryan Schreiber Chadd Olesen #Juneteenth #InfrastructureEquity #SystemicRacism #logistics #transportation #supplychain

This guy is a true professional.

A Commitment to Equity and Homeownership As we stand at the intersection of Black History Month and Leap Day, it's a moment ripe for reflection and learning. The journey toward equitable homeownership is not just a goal; it's a testament to the principle that there can be no peace without justice. Today, I want to share some key lessons from a recent gathering with remarkable leaders in our community, dedicated to this very cause: ✊🏽✊🏻✊🏿✊🏼✊🏾 Unity in Diversity: Our group, comprising Josie Anderson from VALERO TITLE, INC , Cassandra Skidanov & Danny Gardner with Freddie Mac , Ashley Paige Allen, PhD with the Houston Community Land Trust and myself from Houston Land Bank - HLB , showcased the power of diverse backgrounds uniting for a common purpose. ✊🏾✊🏼✊🏿✊🏻✊🏽 🏡🏘🏠The Foundation of Affordable Housing: Through our dialogue, we underscored affordable housing as the cornerstone of sustainable communities and the role of empowerment in transforming residents' lives. It's about more than buildings; it's about creating foundations for futures. 🏘️🏠🏡 📚📖📚Stories as Stepping Stones: Sharing our individual and collective narratives revealed how personal experiences shape professional missions. These stories of resilience and dedication serve as stepping stones toward achieving our shared vision. 📖📚📖 🙏🏾🙏🏽🙏🏿The Leap of Faith: As we transition from Black History Month, let this Leap Day remind us that making a leap towards justice and equity requires faith, not just in our abilities but in the power of collaboration and community. 🙏🏿🙏🏽🙏🏾 Let's do this. Because we can. 🏡💪🏽🏡 🌟 #CommunityLeaders #AffordableHousing #EquityInHomeownership #SustainableCommunities #EmpoweringResidents #BlackHistoryMonth #LeapDayReflections

What can we do about Columbus’ housing shortage, have a look at the latest article my colleagues Brandon Carrus , Duwain Pinder, Ben Safran, Brian Parro and Seth Myers wrote

🌆 The Vanishing Dream: The Last Black Neighborhood in San Francisco 🚨 🔍 The heart-wrenching story of San Francisco's Bayview-Hunters Point, the last standing Black neighborhood in a city transformed by tech booms and urban renewal. 🏙️ 📉 Once a thriving hub, the Black population in SF has plummeted by 60%. Why? Urban renewal, mass incarceration, and the tech industry's rise. The community's resilience faces a new test: environmental hazards. 🏭 Bayview-Hunters Point, the last predominantly Black neighborhood in San Francisco, is facing environmental health risks due to proximity to toxic sites. 🏡 The state's ambitious housing plan sparks a critical question: Can affordable housing coexist with healthy living conditions for Black residents? 🤔 The state's plan to build new homes raises concerns about affordability and health for Black residents, highlighting the dilemma of needing housing but at the potential cost of health due to environmental risks. Must having a roof over your head come at a detriment to your health? In California, housing communities serving Black and Latino people are five times more likely than others to be located in proximity to toxic sites. “Folks don’t understand the level of racism and inequality that we face every day of our lives being Black in liberal California" Kamillah Ealom 🌿 Amidst these challenges, the city's commitment to racial justice wavers, as seen in the recent withdrawal of a reparations office. The fight for equity continues. ✊🏾 There was a twinkle of hope born out of the racial justice protests in 2020: a citywide task force for Black reparations. But then, last month, Mayor London Breed abruptly pulled the reparations office from the city’s budget. The day after her announcement, the federal government disclosed it had found more radioactive waste in Bayview-Hunters Point, where cancer clusters have taken out entire blocks. Joel Serface Joe Ventrone Kenon Chen Amirah Raveneau-Bey Mike Green Gillian Marcelle, PhD Lynell Bevels #SanFrancisco #BlackCommunity #blackstoriesmatter #UrbanJustice #EnvironmentalHealth 🌍

In the face of the affordable housing shortage, HomeSight and Black Home Initiative, a #3C participant in Greater Seattle, empower Black developers with their recent launch of community-centric program, The Field Order 15 Fund: https://bit.ly/42r5lFD With 30 years of experience, HomeSight understands the challenges ahead and aims to address the lack of representation for Black developers. The Field Order 15 Fund provides capital, technical support, and low-interest lending eligibility for Black developers building affordable homes. The upfront grant aids in project planning, while the expert teams offer guidance through a proprietary checklist system. This comprehensive approach aims to overcome barriers, reduce racial homeownership gaps, and contribute to western Washington's affordable housing goals. #washington #affordablehousing #communityempowerment #blackdevelopers #racialequity #connectingcapitalandcommunity #thefieldorder15fund

Being Brooklyn bred-has taught me a few things: One—the block aunties know all the secrets. Two—we show up for our people. Three—double dutch isn’t for everyone. Mutual aid is one of the cornerstones of resource activation and if we were to approach community-generative resourcing processes through this lens—we’d get a lot farther faster. It’s not just about community-led or community committees; it’s about culturally relevant and aligned resourcing strategies that start at the top in grantmaking leadership. We need to set and implement the strategies. Black and Brown Brooklyn folks, like so many communities facing rapid and generational gentrification—and erasure—know that asserting ourselves and occupying space is needed. We know we’re stronger together. We know that we need to support one another. And we know what to do with that money when we get it. Let me clap so you get my point: 👏🏾 trust 👏🏾 us 👏🏾 with 👏🏾 resources 👏🏾 period. I guarantee you we can figure out what our communities need—because we are the community. There’s a rhythm to this resource work. Like telephone wires hitting pavement, we know how to tap in. We know what questions to ask, and when we don’t know an answer—we know which auntie has it. Ask me about it.

Black History in Vancouver, British Columbia | Hogan's Alley Black settlement dates back to 1858 when Governor James Douglas introduced a policy welcoming Black Californians to British Columbia. Nearly 800 free Black people left the oppressive racial conditions of San Francisco for a new life on Vancouver Island. These pioneers enriched the socio-economic life in their community, overcoming intense discrimination and adversity. From the 1920s to the 1960s, Vancouver’s Black Community clustered in the East End, with its nucleus at a site known as Hogan’s Alley, and became a thriving Black community and cultural hub. At one point, Hogan's Alley was home to more than 800 Black community members and featured the African Methodist Episcopal Chapel, a residence for the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, and the legendary Vie's Chicken and Steak House. With this hotspot, Jimi Hendrix's grandmother Nora, a vaudevillian performer and choir singer, worked as a cook. The Great Northern Railway station nearby also meant many Black porters chose Hogan's Alley as a home in the 1920s. City planning in the early '70s led to the displacement and erasure of Hogan's Alley. In 2021, the City of Vancouver announced it would provide a community land trust to the Hogan's Alley Society to deliver housing, public benefits, and amenities. Hogan’s Alley Society (HAS) is a non-profit organization committed to daylighting the presence of Black history in Vancouver and throughout British Columbia. Images from the City of Vancouver Archives. Image 1: 832 Main Street in Hogan's Alley, 1969, Vancouver, B.C. Image 2: 224 Union Street, a street in Hogan's Alley, 1968, in Vancouver B.C. Read more: https://lnkd.in/ea8XTydK and https://lnkd.in/gxejVmz9 Watch: https://lnkd.in/gaAbVhwN #DidYouKnow #BlackHistoryInVancouver #CABL2024 #HogansAlley #BlackHistory .