During the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s 2025 Innovative Housing Showcase that took place on the National Mall from Sept. 6-10, Secretary Scott Turner talked about the benefits of homeownership.
However, Turner made it clear that he has no interest in setting up a special program to assist African Americans in becoming homeowners.
“It’s not just Black homeownership, I represent all Americans,” Turner, 53, said to The Informer. “Not just Black people, but white people, Asian people, Indian people, Democrats, Republicans, saved, unsaved, that’s my job. I’m the HUD Secretary.”
Turner made his comments as he toured a display by Aevolve Green Solutions, a Black-owned public benefit corporation headquartered in Douglassville, Georgia, with a significant operation in Detroit and projects in Madison, Florida, and Douglassville and San Diego, California, utilizing environmentally sensitive materials to build housing particularly for those who are homeless and of low-income.
The secretary’s reluctance to commit to a specific program supporting Black homeownership comes as the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis reports that African Americans own homes at a rate of 43.9% in the second quarter of this year as opposed to non-Hispanic whites similarly situated at 74%.
Turner said he will work to make it easier for anyone who wants to buy a home to be able to do so.
“One thing I want to do is to take down burdensome regulations, in order to free up development so developers and owners can build homes for all the American people, for this generation and the generation behind us and to look out for our homeless friends and neighbors,” the secretary explained, “not just helping people out in housing but holistically.”
The Showcase’s Purpose, Goals
The Innovative Housing Showcase, under Turner’s leadership, operated under the theme of “The American Home is the American Dream.”
The Showcase was started by one of Turner’s predecessors, Dr. Ben Carson, who served as the HUD secretary from 2017-2021. Carson launched the first showcase in 2019 with the support of President Donald Trump, then in his first term.
While the showcase was suspended in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden administration picked up on the showcase with presentations in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Aevolve founder and CEO Dr. Les Snead said his company was intentional in participating in this year’s event.
“We want to let people know that we want to bring affordable housing to the nation,” Snead told The Informer. “We want to help produce safe, cost-efficient housing that is reasonable to purchase and is earthquake-resistant, hurricane-resistant, and wildfire-resistant. Materials that we use come from the ground and are the material that the pyramids were built with.”
HUD Deputy Secretary Andrew D. Hughes, speaking at the Opening Ceremony on Sept. 6, said companies like Aevolve are why the showcase exists: to offer solutions to the country’s housing crisis.
“There is a shortage of housing, of about 7 million units and rising prices, with the median price of a house at $450,000,” Hughes said. “We believe the private sector innovation and the free market is the way for more Americans to own homes.”
At a panel on homeownership with Turner on Sept. 9, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, spoke about a bipartisan bill, “The ROAD To Housing Act 2025” that he said will increase more homeowners.
The bill would address the housing crisis by expanding housing supply, reducing barriers to development, making homeownership more accessible, supporting manufactured housing, and helping communities recover faster from disasters. Key provisions include grants for zoning reform and home building, modernization of lending for manufactured homes, streamlining environmental reviews, and improvements to the appraisal process.
“That bill reported out of committee with a 24-0 vote,” Scott said. “That does not happen in the Senate. It was done because we got input from each senator from both sides of the aisle. Senator Elizabeth Warren and I worked together on this. This was not my bill; this was our bill.”
Turner said that homeownership translates to independence from the government.
“HUD works best when we are empowering people,” he said. “It should never be an endless flow of funds for people. I spoke to a lady who lives (at a facility) at the Atlantic City Housing Authority and her family has lived there for three generations. That should not be. Poverty is not Black or white, nor is poverty Democratic or Republican. We at HUD want to help people buy a home so they can reach their American Dream.”
Scott turner said he represents “Not just Black people, but white people, Asian people, Indian people… He forgot Hispanics and middle eastern but is anyone surprised seeing how this administration has treated them so far?