Supporter Town Hall Recap: Engaging the Community

The final section of the Supporter Town Hall, Engaging the Community, was presented by Habitat's Chief Program Officer Shereese Turner and Director of Equity and Inclusion Danielle Duncan. This section covered the exciting new partnerships Habitat is cultivating as well as the ways we can all show up in our communities--or, as Danielle put it, "We recognize that we don't know it all and are showing up differently to support our community." This is what makes engaging the community the bedrock of expanding homeownership and advancing racial equity. 

One of the partnerships that we're building is with Black Men Teach, an organization that recruits, prepares, places, and retains Black male teachers in elementary schools. Danielle explained the planned down payment assistance program that would aid Black male teachers and their families in their journey to homeownership. 

Shereese continued by presenting on other important partnerships that we have recently cemented. She emphasized the need for engaging directly with employers and community members. "This work cannot happen in a vacuum," she said. The fifty-plus partner organizations that we are working with are essential to our work, as are different government entities such as the City of Minneapolis.

Additionally, Shereese explained the way in which she is engaging directly with employers in order to educate them about the wide-ranging services that Habitat provides beyond our volunteer program. She also touched on our relationship with the MBCRE (Minnesota Business Coalition for Racial Equity) and how being present in those conversations can help shape our work. Likewise, she discussed the relevance of our policy and advocacy work in this field as well and their capacity for change. 

If you'd like to watch the full Supporter Town Hall, click here. Or if you would like to read the full Build Forward Together Strategic Plan, click here. 

Read: Supporter Town Hall Recap: Expanding Homeownership and Supporter Town Hall Recap: Advancing Racial Equity