CHICAGO — The Building Black Wealth Tour is coming to a hundred cities across the country, and on Saturday, the tour made a stop at Olive Harvey College.

According to Dearborn Realtist Board President Sanina Ellison Jones, the Build Black Wealth Tour is an initiative from the National Association of Real Estate Brokers and offers workshops, panel discussions and one-on-one counseling with the goal in mind to help more Black families become homeowners.

We’ve had barriers in housing for decades,” Jones said. “Things like redlining, racially restricted covenants, systemic challenges in lending practices.”

The Dearborn Realtist Board was launched as a non-profit in 1941, and has advocated for democracy in housing on Chicago’s South Side ever since.

Jones told WGN News an estimated two million Black families are mortgage-ready nationwide, but need a little extra support to become homeowners, with a focus on credit score, income and assets.

“The net worth of a renter and that of a homeowner are starkly different,” Jones said. “You need a credit score of at least 580, at least two years on your job and money set aside for down payment home inspection.”

Jones said more than 500 people registered for the event, which brought together trusted resources like lenders, attorneys and insurance professionals to get more people into their own homes — A key to building generational wealth.

“Real estate continues to be the corner stone of wealth in this country,” Jones said.

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