In 2020 alone, officials in the Mississippi state government spent over $94 million in federal welfare funds considered by state audit to “suspect spending.” “What good could have been done in Mississippi with this $94 million? How many families could’ve been impacted?” said Aisha Nyandoro.
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More Than Just a Structure: The Myriad Impacts of Black Women’s Exclusion from Homeownership
We must understand that Black people are not going to build financial wealth in the same ways and with the same tools as white people. Wealth is iterative—and so, wealth built from homeownership today is predicated on the wealth of previous generations.
Recognizing the Full Spectrum of Black Women’s Views on Homeownership Is Key to Progress
To move beyond presenting all Black women as a monolith, we should listen to and learn from their stories. We must recognize that lived experience rarely fits within the simplistic narratives with which our country’s policymakers and officials describe families in poverty—and particularly, Black women-led families in poverty.
How the Magnolia Mother’s Trust Is Changing Lives
In 2018, Springboard to Opportunities, a Jackson, Mississippi, non-profit, had a simple idea: what would happen if they gave Black mothers a monthly stipend, no-strings attached? The Magnolia Mother’s Trust is now in its fourth year of giving mothers a $1,000 monthly stipend for 12 months. And the results speak for themselves.
Solutions Centering Black Women in Housing
In the Locked Out: Black Women, Wealth, and Homeownership series, members of Insight Center, Springboard to Opportunities, and several expert co-authors connect the lived experiences and dreams of low-income Black women and their perspectives on homeownership to the historic and current policies that fuel our exclusionary housing market to advocate for equitable housing solutions for Black women.
An Unlikely City in the South Could Be Home to a Public Education Renaissance
Melvin works as the advocacy, training, and power building director for Springboard to Opportunities, a Jackson-based nonprofit that helps families with housing, employment, child care, and other essential needs. She and her organization are part of the Our JPS coalition helping to implement the community schools approach in the district.