Access To Homeownership

Lack of access to homeownership unfairly disadvantages people of color. People of color, especially Hispanic and African American people, relatively lack access to homeownership in the United States, as shown by the rates of homeownership over time (U.S. Census Bureau, updated constantly). This disparity in large part traces its roots to redlining, a government-sanctioned pattern of racially discriminatory mortgage- and other- lending practices that largely segregated people of color into neighborhoods that failed to accrue as much wealth for the residents over generations. As the Greenlining Institute notes in their webpage about economic equity, “Homeownership… is crucial for family wealth-building and neighborhood stability” (accessed 12 …show more content…
In this sense, like doubtlessly many other excellent policies, it will need to be only part of an approach that is-- to use the words of Greenlining Institute blogger Zachary Murray’s article entitled “3 Things Government Can Do to Create Equitable Access to the Housing Market-- “bold and comprehensive” (2015).
Another method by which social workers may improve access to home ownership is through community organizing around such an issue. Theories of community organizing such as Alinsky’s support that when enough people who are directly impacted by a social problem come together to fight for social change, they can make a big difference. By rallying a community around a cause such as homeownership, one can already begin to build or reinforce the neighborly bonds that strengthen a community and reify the social benefits, including neighborhood stability, of homeownership.
A benefit of this approach is that winning policies through community organizing and related advocacy is a great way of reinvigorating a community and enlivening public debate (Fabj and Sobnosky, 1995) while simultaneously building a sense of collective efficacy-- or a “faith [among people] in themselves, their fellow men, and the future” (Alinsky, 1946, p.79)-- as well as ensuring that the policy is informed by those it aims to serve. This link between the community and the policymakers is essential to a thriving …show more content…
mention in their article, “Equity Issues in Parental and Community Involvement in Schools: What Teacher Educators Need to Know”, “organizing work is an additional burden for all families, but especially for those who are already overextended due to their marginalization in other spheres of society” (2013, pp.167-168). While they are making this point with regards to parental involvement in community organizing for equity, these authors’ statement is an important reminder to the aspiring organizer that this extra burden is often keenly felt by marginalized families. The social worker who intends to take on a community organizing role should definitely consider this reality seriously and with sensitivity, letting it inform their chosen methods of organizing while also further challenging them to be an even better, more effective, and more efficient organizer. After all, the resources of these historically disenfranchised groups are precious, and the social worker has a duty to be competent in their upholding of the value of social justice, as per the NASW Code of Ethics.
In addition to being sensitive and aware of these limitations, however, the strengths-oriented social worker ought also pay close attention to those resources that actually grow with use such as “[m]inds, spirit, talent, commitment, understanding… skills, information, relationships, [and] status” and invest in these resources in order to “support an organization’s longevity”