Giving Compass' Take:

• The Black Lives Matter chapter in Louisville, KY is helping Black families become homeowners by addressing the broader issue of access to home ownership.

• What can donors do to support Black Lives Matter chapters in their areas?

• Read about the foundation that aims to provide financial support to Black Lives Matter leaders.

In May, Tiffany Brown and her children will move into a new home in the historic Black neighborhood of West Louisville, Kentucky.

A single mother of three, Brown has spent most of her adult life in public housing. Her first shot at homeownership comes courtesy of a new project by the Louisville chapter of Black Lives Matter to help provide permanent housing to transient families and low-income single-mother households like hers.

The BLM project means Brown and her children not only have access to affordable housing, but now can finally own their home—at no initial cost to them. Her only financial obligations will be to pay the taxes and utilities on the home. She has no mortgage.

Last year, the group began raising money to address the issue of homeownership after recognizing the impact that lack of housing was having on the Black community. Thousands of homeless people—men, women and children—are in Louisville, and there aren’t enough shelters to accommodate them.

Chanelle Helm, the organizer and co-founder of BLM-Louisville, says the goal is to address the marginalization of homeownership for Black people in the city.

But BLM-Louisville and other grassroots organizations and nonprofits in the area have been working to change that. “Gentrification is what we want to prevent,” says Lyndon Pryor, chief engagement officer of Louisville Urban League.

While economic diversity is part of revitalization and redevelopment in any area, he says, “We do not believe that should come at the expense of the people who currently live here, the people, the history and culture that currently exist in West Louisville,” Pryor says. “We don’t have to lose one to gain the other.”

Read the full article about Black Lives Matter is tackling home ownership by Zenobia Jeffries Warfield at YES! Magazine