MBA tackles homeownership inequities with new initiative

Launched by MBA and the Tennessee Development Agency in March 2020, CONVERGENCE Memphis is working to increase Black homeownership in that city, officials said. Since its launch, CONVERGENCE Memphis has made significant strides in amplifying existing local resources, deploying additional national and state resources and engaging in a broad array of community activities, officials described.

In late 2021, CONVERGENCE Memphis formed a new 501(c)(3) organization (dubbed CONVERGENCE Memphis Inc.) to strengthen ties with the community to advance its mission of increasing Black homeownership, officials noted.

For its part, CONVERGENCE Columbus – led by MBA, the Ohio Housing Finance Agency and the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at Ohio State University – was launched in July 2021. It is also a cross-sector partnership and multi-year initiative focused on increasing minority homeownership in Columbus.

The effort comes amid heightened interest in achieving equity in homeownership. Industry data shows that the rate of Black homeownership has not only contracted in the last 50 years, but that the gap between White and Black American homeownership is worse than it was before the 1968 Fair Housing Act, which was introduced to create equal housing opportunities for minorities.