The opportunity to own an asset that grows in value is the most proven pathways to wealth building. That’s why we partner with our community to unlock ownership pathways for families who’ve been historically and systemically denied this opportunity.
The suggestion of correlation between the wealth and income gap is a fair and reasonable to make, especially given Nobel Laureate Economist Joseph Stiglitz’s reporting, which famously showed the richest 0.1% of Americans take in 196X as much as the bottom 90%.
While the income gap is disturbing, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis has reported that white households still have 5-10X the wealth of households of color, but earn just 2X as much in income as comparable households.
Why is this?
Even as it continues to grow, a smaller and smaller portion of gains flow to families in the form of wages. According to that same Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis report, this has led to a dramatic concentration of wealth among those who have an ownership stake in market performance, and decreasing income for those who rely solely on wages.
Families who rely solely on wages are not economically mobile, meaning, their children are not financially better off from one generation to the next, especially in Colorado, where the cost of living has risen 4X faster than median wages. To be economically mobile, families must build and transfer wealth to their children. This requires them to own assets that increase in value over time.
In other words, we generally assume that income is the solution to wealth-building, when the evidence suggests that … It’s the other way around.
(Chart Source: Bell Policy Center)
There are several traditional strategies to build wealth in the United States. You can own:
Unfortunately, these pathways are unavailable for too many Coloradans.
At Gary, our work is rooted in place. We are not place-based, but we are place-obsessed. Which means, our work is often about community and collective change. And this is also the reason why Ownership is central to our strategy.
We believe that communities thrive not just because people can exercise power and have their voices heard, but also because they own a piece of prosperity and wealth created within that community. That they have an economic stake in the future. And yet we know that we have built structures that intentionally deny access to ownership – whether it’s a home, a small business, or other form of assets that can grow in value – to marginalized communities, particularly people of color.
Our founders Sam and Nancy Gary realized this four decades ago and quietly began building an ownership movement in Metro Denver. They lobbied the federal government to make home ownership more accessible through down-payment assistance. They helped create community-owned real-estate organizations like Urban Land Conservancy and Elevation Community Land Trust.
We at Gary are building on this legacy and accelerating a national movement where ownership can become a powerful tool to address the racial wealth gap. We have allies — other place-based foundations and leading impact investors — in funding, investing, and championing ownership tools and solutions. We can reimagine prosperity in our communities. It starts with ownership.
Aisha T. Weeks is leading the The Dearfield Fund for Black Wealth, which provides up to $40,000 in down-payment assistance to first-time Black and African American homebuyers to help build generational wealth. The down-payment assistance is like a loan, but homeowners don’t make monthly payments and pay no interest. Instead, when homeowners sell or refinance they repay the down-payment amount plus 5% of their home’s appreciation, which allows the Dearfield Fund to serve more Black homeowners.
The Savings Collaborative provides tools to help families start saving and creating the future they want in just 2 minutes with only $5. This nonprofit provides easy-to-use digital savings tools, personalized savings coaching as well as safe and low-cost microloans for emergencies to help users save money and build a lifetime habit of savings. They lean into a high-tech, high-touch approach that aims to utilize:
Partner Phillip Reeves is helping implement Apis & Heritage’s Employee-led Buyout (ELBO©) approach, which provides:
The Denver Foundation
The journey that brought a foundation, a family & The Dearfield Fund together.
Ivory Innovations
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Next City News
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