Homeownership in the United States is not just a path to building generational wealth, but a potential source of pride for those who attain a home. As our nation wrestled its way out of the Great Depression the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was created to make the dream of owning a home a real possibility. Unfortunately, the FHA would take steps that would have negative consequences for Black and African American community members, and as we honor Black History month, we wanted to acknowledge the history of the FHA and how history shaped the present.

As part of the new FHA, the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation would undertake a review of neighborhoods in over 200 cities around the United States. This was to rank neighborhoods from 1 to 4, with 4 being the highest risk neighborhood to provide mortgage lending. Without consideration for factors such as income or educational levels, predominantly Black neighborhoods were given a high-risk score of 4 and would be labeled red on the map. Today, this process is called ‘redlining’ and we continue to see its impacts in our communities over a century later. ^[1]

The United States would see the establishment of several “racial covenants” which would further discriminate against African Americans. These covenants were private agreements between neighbors and neighborhood associations to prevent the sale of property to people of specific races or backgrounds. These covenants prevented Black and African American households from accessing certain neighborhoods and exacerbated the inequities seen today.  Learn more about the history of racial covenants in King County here.

The Fair Housing Act would be signed on April 11, 1968, and while it would make housing discrimination based on race illegal, the impact from unfair housing practices continues to this day. ⁽²⁾

Around our region, there are several local champions working to create equal access to housing. In 2022, SKHHP heard about the Black Home Initiative, a local group dedicated to Black homeownership in Washington State. At our Executive Board meeting tomorrow, we will hear about impediments to fair housing in King County.

During the month of February, we want to invite you to learn more about the history and experience of our Black neighbors as we work to build a community we can all be proud to call home.

We are happy to announce the arrival of the new SKHHP Executive Manager Claire Vanessa Goodwin. A lack of affordable housing is one of the most pressing challenges facing our region and she is eager to join the community of individuals and coalitions dedicated to addressing this need locally. Since 2014, Claire has been supporting elected officials and government leadership in local and state government in nonpartisan, analytical roles.

For the last three years, she has been developing policy on behalf of four members of the Tacoma City Council including changes to Tacoma’s Multifamily Property Tax Exemption Program and establishing prohibited areas of camping on public property. Claire spent the 2018 and 2019 state legislative sessions as a Fiscal Analyst on the Senate Ways and Means Committee crafting the statewide budget on behalf of the Committee Chair for 23 state agencies, including the Department of Commerce.

Working under the Town Manager in Lexington, MA during a two-year International City/County Management Association (ICMA) Fellowship exposed her to all aspects of municipal management and instilled Claire’s passion for public service in local government. Claire graduated in 2015 from the H. John Heinz III College at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh with a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management. While in school, she worked for the City of Pittsburgh Mayor’s Department of Innovation and Performance and as a Legislative Assistant to Councilmember Natalia Rudiak. Before attending graduate school, Claire served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in North Macedonia.

Feel free to reach out to Claire directly and introduce yourself at cvgoodwin@skhhp.org.