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A family’s zip code is a major determining factor in the wealth and health of that family. Homeownership is critical for building wealth. Yet Black households are significantly less likely to own their homes than White households, and inadequate housing conditions continue to contribute to Black-White disparities in wealth and health. But even when Black households become homeowners, they are more likely to live in structures that insurance companies, financial institutions, property assessors, and even government regulators consider inadequate. By addressing housing conditions, families receive a direct benefit to their health and can begin to create multigenerational wealth.
Yachad has been improving housing conditions for D.C. Black and Brown homeowners for over 30 years.
photos courtesy of Yachad
Last year, Yachad partnered with homeowner Ms. F to make critical improvements to her home. When Ms. F had purchased the home in 2017, she was led to believe it had been recently updated but it soon became clear this was not the case. “Plumbing problems showed up first,” Ms. F. said. “Then the house needed a new HVAC system, a new hot water heater, and a new roof.” There were additional problems, too, throughout the house. The carpets in the master bedroom and in her daughter’s room were moldy, as were the plywood floors underneath. The electricity didn’t work in her daughter’s room, so the family ran an extension cord from a nearby bathroom to light the room. In the kitchen, the cabinets were moldy and falling apart; the floors were moldy, too, due to a dishwasher leak.
The struggle to maintain a safe and healthy environment for her daughter led Ms. F. to attend a community meeting where staff from Yachad described their home repair program. “I was very surprised to learn about Yachad,” Ms. F. said. “It seemed like a miracle.” She applied and was accepted.
First came a new roof. Then the drywall was repaired in the bedroom ceilings and walls were painted in her daughter’s room. Moldy carpet due to the roof leak was picked up in the bedrooms and new flooring installed. Yachad workers fixed a hole in her dining room floor, installed a new dishwasher, redid a broken shower, and replaced bathroom tile. The basement received new steps. Her daughter’s room finally got electricity.
“Thanks to [Yachad], my house is now a home again. I no longer feel like I’m sleeping outside in a tent. I can have guests over in my home and not be ashamed about the smell from the mold, or the roof leaking, or the holes in the wall, or the ceiling collapsing.”