Builders of Hope CDC breaks ground on Affordable Housing project and "Build A Better Dallas" Plan!
BOHCDC's "Build A Better Dallas" 5 Year Strategic Plan aims to increase economic mobility in Dallas through homeownership, financial literacy, and strategic initiatives.
BOHCDC's "Build A Better Dallas" 5 Year Strategic Plan aims to increase economic mobility in Dallas through homeownership, financial literacy, and strategic initiatives.
Dallas, TX- On Thursday, September 23rd, 2021 Builders of Hope Community Development Corporation broke ground on its single-family affordable home development in the Southern Dallas neighborhood of Mill City (east of Fair Park) – a project aiming to deliver much needed affordable housing to an area of Dallas that has seen skyrocketed home prices due to market conditions and recent public investment that have attracted new attention. Not only did this project jump start future revitalization in Mill City but it also signified a beginning to an ambitious 5-year strategic plan aimed to increase economic mobility in Dallas.
BOHCDC’s “Build a Better Dallas” plan is a multi-year community development strategy that seeks to increase economic mobility through increasing access to affordable housing, providing financial coaching and pre-homebuyer education, and revitalization/strategic initiatives like neighborhood plans and studies. Dallas is increasingly a ‘barbell’ city with extremes of high wealth and high poverty and a thin population of middle-income households while a large population that fall between 40%-80% of the area medium income are being pushed farther away from jobs and services.
In addition, though Southern Dallas makes up most of Dallas’ land mass, many communities within the southern region of Dallas are marked by historical disinvestment which has resulted in significantly suppressed land values, rampant crime, and double unemployment. This makes for an inequitable city that prevents a family’s ability to increase their economic position.
Build a Better Dallas proposes to address – I. entrenched issues of community neglect by offering balanced revitalization, II. dismal homeownership rates adversely impacting Hispanic and Black families that perpetuate generational poverty through increasing the supply of safe energy efficient affordable housing, III. financial literacy gap through financial coaching and pre-homebuyer education.
“Our city’s housing crisis can’t be solved by simply increasing the supply of housing- that’s a one-sided approach to community development that fails to address the real barriers to economic mobility. The Build a Builder Dallas plan is a holistic approach making Dallas a more equitable place to live” said James Armstrong, BOHCDC’s President & CEO.
Partnerships between BOHCDC and the city of Dallas, Dallas County, local foundations, financial institutions, and neighborhood leaders will be the driving force of the Build a Better Dallas Plan and have already received a $100,00 jump start investment from Wells Fargo. Details of the plan include a 300 housing unit goal, the completion of two community led plans, and the completion of Financial coaching/pre-homebuyer education classes for 5,000 individuals.
BUILDERS OF HOPE Community Development Corporation is a multifaceted community development organization devoted to transforming Dallas by increasing economic mobility by developing thriving communities and building energy-efficient quality affordable homes. Over the past 20 years, BOH CDC has been a leader in creating and sustaining equitable and affordable housing through single-family development, community engagement, and policy. The approach we take to community development consists of three strategies – revitalization of areas that are experiencing suppressed land values due to lack of public investment; stabilization of communities undergoing gentrification marked by fast pace increase in land values; and diversification of mixed-income housing in areas where affordable housing is limited or nonexistent. Through these strategies and grassroots community engagement, we have produced over 500 homes, be a partner in building four major subdivisions, and have generated nearly $35M in wealth for families in South, East, and West Dallas.