The Housing Trust stands in solidarity with the knowledge that Black lives matter. We’re committed to continuing our work on addressing Racial Equity and Diversity on an organizational level. The below article is from our printed newsletter from the spring. Though our second REDI training was interrupted by COVID-19. We’re regrouping and eager to continue our training via an online platform.
In 1968, during the peak of the civil rights movement, a pioneering African American woman named Dorothy Richardson led an important campaign against racist policies and housing practices that had marginalized her neighbors in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She brought together neighbors, local government officials and bank staff to persuade the banks to extend loans to residents previously labeled “unbankable.” And so began the mission of NeighborWorks – the organization that sprang from Ms. Richardson’s efforts – to create opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives and strengthen their communities.
Over 40 years later, the work of NeighborWorks and its network of member organizations like Windham & Windsor Housing Trust still strives to make every community a place of equitable opportunity. But how does an organization like NeighborWorks and others like it effectively serve and represent communities of color when their leadership – both on the national and local level – is still largely white?
A few years ago, NeighborWorks took action to address this issue and joined a broader, national conversation focusing on diversity and inclusion. The REDI initiative – an acronym for Race, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion – is in the process of being rolled out to NeighborWorks affiliates nationwide. A key part of the initiative is a leadership diversification program designed to develop and promote a more diverse pool of career professionals, both within NeighborWorks as well as the broader field of community development.
Windham & Windsor Housing Trust is one of five NeighborWorks affiliates in Vermont, and has already begun the process of mounting a REDI initiative of its own. Executive Director Elizabeth Bridgewater explains the need to examine the issues of race and diversity here in Vermont.
“People often cite the fact that, because Vermont is predominantly white, we don’t have to address these issues. That is just not true. We need to acknowledge that even though there is a relatively small number of people of color in Vermont, racism and its impact exist here. I feel strongly that we have a responsibility to do our part to advance the values of racial justice and equality. But what should our role be?”
This question was raised to WWHT’s board and staff at the beginning of the strategic planning process in 2017 – just as NeighborWorks was developing the national REDI initiative.
“Several staff members attended a 2-day diversity summit put on by NeighborWorks America in Boston, and came back energized. We immediately started working on organizational alignment, and applied for funding. We are so grateful for the leadership of NeighborWorks for providing the grant to do this work.”
The first training session – led by Equity Solutions, a Brattleboro-based consulting and training group focusing on racial and economic equity — was held in February of this year, and most of the staff and board attended, including resident board member Ellen Snyder. “It was a great experience, very informative, and such open communication. This is important work that needs to be done, because otherwise there is gentrification. This makes me hopeful.”
Some of the work, says Elizabeth, is raising consciousness about the decades-long history and impact of systemic racism and unfair housing practices, and getting comfortable talking about it. “It’s a messy, uncomfortable process, and not something many white folks are used to talking about.”
On the state level, Vermont is trying to advance this conversation. Citing the need for more education about the collective harm of racial inequity, Governor Phil Scott announced the state’s first executive director of racial equity in June of last year. One part of Xusana Davis’s job is enticing diverse populations to come to live and work in Vermont.
“If we want to grow an economy,” says Ms. Davis, “if we want to have a strong and robust workforce, and we want to have a strong and robust Vermont, then we’ve really got to think differently than we’ve been thinking, and put ourselves into the shoes of those whom we want to attract to figure out what are the needs that perhaps we could meet better.”
It is that mandate to “think differently” that drives WWHT’s initiative forward.
“My hope is that through an open and honest exploration of this issue, we can identify and remove some of the existing barriers to housing in our own community,” says Elizabeth.
It has been over 50 years since Congress passed the Fair Housing Act, an effort to erase housing inequality in America. Yet, in 2020 there is still a persistent and widening gap in homeownership rates between white and non-white Americans. Homeownership remains the principal way most families build wealth in this country; therefore this homeownership gap exacerbates the racial wealth gap. To Elizabeth and her peers in community development, this points to a lingering bias, and the need for systemic change.
“We are at the very beginning of this journey and look forward to sharing our progress,” she says. “Reflection is a large part of the process, but to make it meaningful, we have to implement changes so that residents of all races have access to our housing resources. I also see the value of increasing the diversity of our board and staff so that everyone in our community feels comfortable coming in to access our resources.”
