From tackling the roots of racial disparities to equitable education and resources, shaping homeownership is a dual effort, and for Dr. Kofi Bryant Sr., part of the work starts at home in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
“Homeownership is still a worthy dream. I’m living it with my wife [in Prince George’s], and I wouldn’t trade it. But let’s tell the whole truth about it: the maintenance, the cost, the labor,” Bryant, lead pastor of Inspired Life Ministries, told The Informer, “and let’s build lending systems and point people toward resources….with enough grace to meet people where their story actually is.”
As June marks National Homeownership Month, Bryant is among the Prince Georgians aiming to create the American dream he sees fit, particularly in the lens of what many consider the catalyst to wealth creation.
While acknowledging the need to advance better policies, Bryant highlighted the realities often lost to first-time buyers – particularly an understanding of what it means to own property.
“It’s about everything that comes after the keys. It’s the Saturday morning you spend cutting grass instead of resting. It’s the call you didn’t want to make about a leaky pipe — and then discovering that ‘fixing it’ actually means replacing old copper plumbing with PVC throughout an aging house,” the faith leader explained. “It’s an HVAC system that’s seen better decades, air ducts that need work you can’t see until the air stops flowing right.”
When it comes to bridging the gaps, local advocates say expanding affordability and access are top priorities, even with Prince George’s unique role as an affluent, majority-Black suburban county.
“Having median or higher incomes, college degrees, white collar professional work, and home ownership outside of the city does not insulate the Black middle class from the cumulative and ongoing effects of policies and other forms of White domination and anti-Black racism that have evolved from the slave era,” said Dr. Angela Simms, a professor of sociology and urban studies at Columbia University. “Black neighborhoods are undervalued by market actors…irrespective of class composition, location in a metropolitan area, and the quality of resources available. African American areas also do not receive the level of government investment they deserve.”
Plus, with the median home in Prince George now selling for around $445,000, increasing awareness and opportunities across the county is pivotal to assisting first-time homeowners’ success, Bryant says.
“My wife…and I are proud homeowners and residents of Prince George’s County. But my journey to this address ran through Calvert County first,” the faith leader told The Informer, “and that contrast taught me something about the American dream that I don’t think enough of us talk about honestly.”
From Affordability to Assistance: Investing in the Future of Homeownership
According to Simms, establishing the building blocks towards homeownership requires the ability to identify the roots of modern disparities.
After tracing the inevitable impact of the Great Recession — a time when the response from the federal government failed to match “the level of harm inflicted” – Simms pointed to the inevitable state of a dual-edged crisis that majority-Black counties continue to recover from, including Prince George’s.
“Reduced tax revenue alongside increasing demand for public goods and services as people cannot make ends meet,” she explained. “The major issue is Black Americans’ ability to afford the increasingly high cost of living in a context where they have never been made whole from slavery and Jim Crow segregation, while continuing to face anti-Black barriers to economic upward mobility and stability.”
Thus, she sees a critical role in an all-around investment in uplifting Black families – from increasing civic engagement on the ground floor, to assisting financial woes through schools, healthcare, and social services.
“The level of investment necessary requires that we raise state and federal taxes and then distribute that money equitably, such that the money goes to the areas that have been most deprived of resources,” Simms told The Informer. “Counties, school districts, and other local units are the place where Americans realize their citizenship, and they are where policies from all levels of government — federal, state, and local — converge.
Local jurisdictions’ financial status shows us that local jurisdiction boundaries are not neutral; they are tools White Americans use to hoard resources at Black Americans’ expense.”
Where affordability meets policy, Rachel Jones has a word.
The former Maryland delegate told The Informer that expanding homeownership is key to the future of Southern Maryland – and housing affordability should be a top priority.
“Home ownership provides stability, community, and a financial safety net. Those benefits also come with the challenges of maintenance and repair, whether it’s appliances or lawn care. It is an investment that allows you to build your dreams as well as generational wealth,” said Jones.
“Rising costs to purchase a home in addition to property tax increases are making the dream of home ownership less of a reality for so many people.”
The community leader, who is also running for the District 27B seat, added her vision of expanding existing mortgage programs to help new homebuyers.
“If elected to serve as delegate once more, I will work to expand the Maryland Mortgage Program to increase the loan amount given to first- time home buyers from $6000 to $10,000 to purchase a home. I’d also support enabling legislation to allow counties to build homes on smaller lots in order to increase housing stock,” Jones told The Informer.
Similarly, Bryant said his view of homeownership boils down to building generational assets and weathering the burdens and annoyances of caretaking an aging home.
Though the county offers some assistance programs – such as Prince George’s Housing Rehabilitation Assistance (HRAP) programs – the local homeowner noted a need for local officials and resources to expand their scope and services, all the while moving with the notion of communal betterment.
“We need mortgage and lending institutions to build more forgiving criteria for people whose hardship was circumstantial, not characterological: people who didn’t mismanage their lives, but whose lives were managed by forces outside their control,” he told The Informer. “A more compassionate underwriting lens, one that looks at the full story and not just a recent dip in the numbers, could open the door to ownership for families who are more than ready to carry the responsibility; they just need someone to believe their story is bigger than their setback.”
