Meaning in Colors uses the founder's first-hand experience to help young people facing housing shortages.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Housing Kent's new data dashboard aims to visualize Kent County's housing crisis and raise awareness of the problem and potential solutions.
One particular statistic stands out. It's the racial disparity in home ownership.
The graph shows that Kent County's white residents have a homeownership rate of 76%. For Black residents, it's 34%.
“This is one of the largest in the country among its peers,” said Eureka Peoples, president of Housing Kent. “We find that people of color, particularly African Americans, are disproportionately disadvantaged in terms of cost-sharing, meaning a larger portion of household income is allocated to housing costs.”
The purpose of visualizing this data is to make people aware of these disparities.
“People know about it, but when you actually see it, it's very dramatic,” People said. “Then they begin to mentally process the impact some of them are feeling personally within their homes.”
It's an experience Ilyona Hogan Davis knows personally and sees every day in her work.
“People don't like to mention race when it comes to this issue, but we have to,” Hogan Davis said. “When we look at housing, we have to look at race because a lot has happened to get us here, far beyond today.”
Hogan-Davis started Meaning in Colors after experiencing her own housing struggles in Kent County. This nonprofit organization has programs that support children's personal, professional, and academic growth, and also offers transitional housing programs.
That's what the “meaning of color” means. “It's creating opportunities that others would never have had,” Hogan Davis said. It's amazing to see how it really helps them.”
Hogan Davis is one of several West Michigan residents who shared their stories through Housing Kent's Lived Experiences series.
Housing Kent will soon be publishing a State of Housing report highlighting potential solutions and strategies.
►Make it easy to stay up to date with articles like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app today.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.complease visit us Facebook page or twitter.please subscribe YouTube channel.
Watch 13 ON YOUR SIDE for free Roku, Amazon Fire TV StickApple TV, and mobile phones.