Northwestern Mutual is donating $3 million to local efforts to help boost home ownership among Black and Hispanic families in the city.
The bulk of the funding, $2.5 million, will be given to the
Milwaukee Community Land Trust to help drive affordable housing and ensure homeownership affordability over time, a Northwestern Mutual press release states.
The funding will be used to help MCLT purchase land and homes, rehabbing any houses that can be salvaged or building new ones. The MCLT’s efforts are aimed at keeping the homes well below market prices for lower income homebuyers. When it comes time to sell the homes, the buyers agree to sell their properties for below market value, ensuring subsidies are passed onto future generations.
“Milwaukee is unique compared to other cities with a stark racial inequity in homeownership,” said Lamont Davis, executive director for the MCLT. “At MCLT, we are focused on a long-term strategy investment. Together with our partners, like Northwestern Mutual, we’ve already been able to invest in 10 affordable homes throughout the city and are working to add more than 30 more by 2025.”
ACTS Housing
The remaining $500,000 will be donated to the
Acts Housing’s Homeownership Acquisition Fund. Coming from the Northwestern Mutual Foundation, the funds will address the shortage of quality affordable homes available for purchase by low-income Black and Latino residents by purchasing houses to rehab and sell to new homeowners.
The combined funds are expected to support up to 20 households.
“In Milwaukee, families of low-to-moderate income are increasingly rent burdened and forced to make decisions that limit their ability for upward mobility,” said Dorothy York, vice president of real estate at ACTS Housing. “We are working to acquire at least 100 properties per year beginning this year and convert these properties into owner-occupied homes. This strategy works through a combination of program investments from philanthropies and long-term patient capital from financial institutions like Northwestern Mutual.”
The investments into the city’s homeownership rate come from Northwestern Mutual’s $100 million impact investment fund, which is working to deliver on the company's commitment to addressing inequality and the racial wealth gap in the U.S. Funds from this initiative are dedicated to Black, African American and other underserved communities on local and national scales, specifically focusing on building physical and social infrastructure, increasing access to capital and creating healthy, sustainable neighborhoods and communities.
‘Pipeline to homeownership’
According to the Federal Reserve Board, Black Americans’ net worth is 70% below that of non-Black households. In Milwaukee, homeownership is less attainable for Black residents, which is due in part to this gap. And it’s this gap that the
Northwestern Mutual Foundation aiming to help shrink with this most recent donation.
“As a financial services company, we recognize our responsibility to support and add economic value to our communities,” said Grady Crosby, vice president of chief sustainability and impact officer at Northwestern Mutual. “By leveraging our expertise and working directly with local residents and partners, we’re helping to create a pipeline to homeownership that makes housing more affordable and gives residents a stake in their properties for generations to come.”
For more than a decade, the company has partnered with Milwaukee’s Amani, Metcalfe Park and Muskego Way neighborhoods to create long-term sustainable impact, with more than $15 million already invested toward revitalization efforts and economic empowerment. Those investments have paved the way for the establishment of thriving neighborhood associations, resident driven revitalization plans, deeper collaboration between nonprofit partners and the development of a citywide shared housing strategy.
On average, the median income for a Black household in Wisconsin is $31,351, which is less than half the state and nation’s median household income. Through these investments and partnerships, Northwestern Mutual is providing a sustainable pipeline to homeownership which will enable Milwaukee residents to invest in their future in a tangible and meaningful way.
“Homeownership is strongly tied to economic empowerment, financial security and community development,” said Steve Radke, president of the Northwestern Mutual Foundation. “Research has found that stable housing can improve education dropout rates, economic vitality and health as well as reduce crime. As a company, we firmly believe that helping residents access fair and sustained homeownership opportunities is an important means to helping close the racial wealth gap, and we are grateful to our partners for helping us tackle this generational issue.”
