Change the Narrative Fellow featured in The New York Times: “Can You Buy A House In Your 20's?”

As a member of our second cohort of Change the Narrative Fellows, Akirah Pressley delved into the themes of housing, gender, and economic security during her time with the Change the Narrative Fellowship. She was recently interviewed and featured in The New York Times for an article written by journalist Jessica Fu about the accessibility of homeownership and its important role as a tool for building wealth. 

A snippet from the article:

“While homeownership is a wealth-building tool, it’s not accessible to all Americans. Racial chasms in homeownership persist in large part because of the long-tail effects of racially exclusionary housing policies, like redlining and predatory lending. Black households on average have significantly less wealth than white ones, which translates into less money that families can pass down to support younger members in buying a home.

In recent years, local governments and nonprofits have introduced a range of initiatives aimed at helping low-income residents buy their first home.

Two years ago, Akirah Pressley, then 29, accomplished her goal of becoming a homeowner. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Ms. Pressley moved around a lot as a child, frequently shuffled from one guardian to another. When she became a young mother, she dreamed about owning a house and giving her children the stability she never had.”

“It was an overwhelming feeling,” Ms. Pressley said about the moment she signed the papers and became a homeowner. “It was also relief. It was excitement. It was heavy tears. It was amazement.” She considers that milestone “the greatest achievement in my life.”

Read the full article on The New York Times here.