Studies show that owning a home is less achievable for Black families. The Dearfield Fund for Black Wealth aims to close that gap by providing down payment assistance to Black first-time homebuyers around the Denver area.
Founded by Gary Community Ventures, a Denver-based philanthropic organization, the Dearfield Fund aims to help Black families and individuals buy a home in Denver’s frenzied real estate market. The fund, which was launched in September of 2021, has already helped more than 40 homebuyers purchase a home by giving each as much as $40,000 in down payment assistance. Gary Community Ventures aims to serve more than 450 homebuyers over the next three to five years, and has a 10-year goal to serve 1,000 Black families in Denver.
The Dearfield Fund could be a step in the right direction after years of systemic racism within the real estate landscape. According to the U.S. Census, only 43 percent of Black Americans owned a home by the end of 2021, compared to 74 percent of white Americans. That discrepancy, according to a 2021 study from the Brookings Institution, has its roots in white supremacist practices: Black individuals are more likely to experience discriminatory lending practices, for example, and homes in predominantly Black neighborhoods are more likely to be devalued.
Individual prejudices play a role, too. In 2020, a biracial Denver couple says they faced discrimination when an appraisal company valued their home. When Lorenzo Mitchell, a Black man, was home, the company valued the home at $405,000. When his wife, who is white, stayed home, a different appraisal company valued their home at $550,000.
Often, though, simple access to resources keeps potential homebuyers from finding success in the market. Monica Askew, a Denver-based real estate broker, says that many Black families are able to secure a loan and pay their mortgage, but struggle to find the funds for a down payment, whether that be due to the racial wealth gap or sky-high rent prices.
“What I’m seeing a lot of today, and particularly for people in my community, is that they don’t have upfront money,” says Askew, who is Black. “Sometimes they only need a few thousand dollars to secure a home.”
That’s where the Dearfield Fund comes in. Prospective homeowners may apply for up to $40,000 in down payment assistance, as long as they fit the criteria: They must be first-time buyers, complete a first-time homebuyer course through their lenders, qualify for a conventional mortgage loan with either FirstBank or Elevations Credit Union, and have saved at least three percent of the home value in the range they are looking to buy. Furthermore, their income must be less than 140 percent of the Denver median income (so, because the city’s median income is $43,000 for an individual, the applicant must make less than $103,000, i.e. 140 percent). Gary Community Ventures does not decide how much assistance each family gets. Each family that qualifies will receive the amount of assistance they requested, up to $40,000.
Leadership at Gary Community Ventures believes that initial infusion of cash will ensure qualifying families aren’t held back from owning a home by the racial wealth gap一and then forced into a nasty cycle. “We’ve listened to many Black families who have said that one of the main things standing between them and building wealth is owning a home,” says Santosh Ramdoss, vice president of impact investing at Gary Community Ventures.
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