Growing up, Ginger Plummer Mair’s father, a property manager and buyer, drilled down the importance of having three steady forms of income.
Soon after graduating from Howard University, she heeded his advice.
She purchased her first home in Upper Marlboro by age 25, began investing in stocks, and started Ginger Roots, a tea and herb apothecary as a home business which turned into a storefront in the Laurel Shopping Center in 2024.
On Saturday, April 12 in Prince George’s County, during the National Association of Real Estate Brokers’ (NAREB) Building Black Wealth 100 City Tour, Plummer Mair will share with community members her philosophy on homeownership as an act of self and health care, in addition to a step toward achieving generational wealth.
“Homeownership is more than just the four walls around your body,” said Plummer Mair, 46. “As an herbalist, I see housing not only as shelter but a space for healing, self sufficiency and legacy. If we think about 2020 and the pandemic where we were isolated, stuck in the house and didn’t have access to conventional, modern drugs, many people turned to holistic medicine, and just what was grown in our neighborhoods as an option for therapeutic healing.”
NAREB chapters throughout the country kicked off its Building Black Wealth Tour earlier this week with virtual and in-person events, including Sunday worship and an advocacy day, a moment to share the organization’s State of Black Housing report with legislators and community members.
Friday is Financial Fellowship Day, a call to support Black businesses featuring a scavenger hunt.
It all culminates Saturday with Black Wealth Day when NAREB leaders and guest speakers will educate communities about building generational wealth in an effort to close the racial wealth gap and ensure economic stability for individuals and families.
Five cities in the DMV are hosting in-person events Saturday including Washington, D.C, Woodbridge, Virginia., Glenn Dale,Silver Spring, and Fort Washington, all in Maryland. Events will also be livestreamed.
“This is an opportunity for a reset in our community,” said Charisse Callender-Scott, vice president and treasures of Prince George’s Realtist, an NAREB affiliate. “That’s the spirit of which is coming out of this effort. This is an opportunity to have one-on-ones with realtist professionals, mental health professionals and attorneys. Sometimes, we just need a safe space to share what happened, what our story is and get the guidance needed to finish the next chapter of your story. This is the environment we are hoping to create during the Black Wealth Tour.”
What to Expect, Gain from the Black Wealth Tour
The tour sites will include education stations, financial checkups, mental health resources and workshops and discussions highlighting community-driven solutions to empower attendees with actionable steps to thrive despite today’s obstacles.
In Prince George’s County, workshop topics will include mortgage education and financial planning, assistance programs and resources, wellness, prayer and access to mental health support, estate planning and financial empowerment, legal guidance on wealth preservation, and homeownership accountability.
“Where you live and even what materials your house is built with has a huge factor in your health,” said Plummer Mair who will focus her discussion on wellness. “Materials that are sustainable create healthier living environments and less long-term medical expenses. Those are considerations we should make when purchasing a home. When families have access to land, they can look at how to grow on their land and then when it’s time to pass down their homes, they are also passing down land, the resources around it, natural remedies, and the power to thrive.”
Shirvan Joseph, a mortgage banker for FitzGerald Financial Group/ TowneBank Mortgage will educate attendees on first-time home buying. He said developments in technology will allow people to use a QR code on Saturday to pre-qualify attendees which will only take 20 minutes.
“This is an opportunity for people to understand the process and terminology,” said Joseph, who has been in the field for 39 years. “If you’re concerned about setting up your family for security, shame on you for not participating.”
The dismantling of key legislation that has historically supported Black wealth creation makes events like this critical to ensuring economic stability for future generations, said NAREB officials.
While the real estate industry is influx with rising interest rates, a waning supply of homes and an unpredictable job market particularly for federal government employees, residents may be thinking this is not the right climate to consider purchasing, refinancing or even attending an event encouraging investing in property. However, Shirvan said not to fret.
“That is the absolutely wrong way to be thinking,” said Shirvan who has been in the mortgage lending industry for 39 years. “This is the right time to be buying a house if you’re qualified. Waiting until everything is perfect before you actually put your foot in the water while you’re paying someone else’s mortgage, means you’re losing all the equity you could have while the market transitions to a better market.”
Joseph and Callender-Scott said residents should still remain hopeful and use Saturday’s event to learn how they can stay on top of the industry, learn how to keep their homes, and prepare for next steps, including those in transition from government layoffs and those who may be fearful of the current job climate.
“It’s natural for you to feel fear,” said Callender-Scott who is also a realtor and broker for Desiree Callender & Associates, Realtors in Bowie. “Here’s your opportunity to take your gifts and talents that you’ve been giving to the government for all these years, use your thrift savings plan or whatever you’ve saved to generate another level of income or as a business. Take your get-out-of-jail card and go. We will have people there to help people get into franchising for our workers who are living in fear, and for those who have already lost their job. People need to know the resources and tools to help them get through this time.”
Black Wealth Tour locations on Saturday in the DMV include:
- DCHFA, 815 Florida Avenue NW, Washington, D.C.
- Reid Temple AME Church, 11400 Glenn Dale Boulevard, Glenn Dale, MD
- Ebenezer AME Church, 7710 Allentown Rd, Fort Washington, MD Eastern Middle School, 300 University Boulevard East, Silver Spring, MD
- Hampton Middle School, 14800 Darbydale Avenue, Woodbridge, VA.
Prince George’s events will also be live streamed on the PGREALTIST YouTube channel.
