New Pittsburgh Courier — “Property is Power! How Thinking Differently Leads to Owning Differently”

The median wealth of a typical white family in America is nearly 10 times higher than that of a Black family — about $171,000 compared to just over $17,000. That gap is driven not just by income but by assets, ownership, and long-term investment. Roughly 44% of Black families own their homes, a figure that has consistently lagged behind white households for decades. Only about 21% of Black households hold credit scores above 700, compared to more than half of white households — limiting access to favorable mortgage financing. 🔗 newpittsburghcourier.com New Pittsburgh Courier

Important Update on 2026 NOAAH National Housing Conference

July 15, 2026

Dear NOAAH Board Members, Colleagues and Supporters:

I am pleased to share that the 2026 NOAAH National Housing Conference will be held September 24–26 in Richmond, Virginia, at Virginia Union University.

This year’s theme is “The American Dream at 250.” As the country celebrates its 250th anniversary, we have an opportunity to seriously examine what the American Dream now means in the context of housing, homeownership, community stability, and economic mobility.

That conversation could not come at a more important time. Across the country, communities face deep pressure regarding affordability, fair housing, access to capital, aging housing stock, public housing transformation, and the long-term future of homeownership. At the same time, new policy conversations are taking shape in Washington, including the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which has passed both chambers of Congress and could influence the national housing agenda in the months ahead.

NOAAH’s conference will meet this moment. It will bring forward the experience, judgment, and ideas of people who understand housing not only as policy but also as a lived reality in neighborhoods, institutions, and markets across the country.

Please send us your recommendations for topics, speakers, panels, or issues you believe should be part of the Richmond conference. We are especially interested in ideas that speak to the future of equitable housing, affordable housing development, homeownership, fair housing, community reinvestment, public-private partnership, housing finance, and the next generation of leadership in our field.

Your suggestions do not need to be fully developed. If there is a question we should ask, a speaker we should hear from, a policy issue that deserves more attention, or a conversation NOAAH is uniquely positioned to lead, please send it to me. kevinmarchman.noaah@gmail.com

We are also coordinating our timing with other national organizations, including the NAACP, whose national convention will be held in Chicago later this month. Our goal is for NOAAH’s conference to add to the larger national conversation and give our members a clear forum for the issues most important to our work.

Please send your ideas by Friday, July 24, so we can begin shaping the agenda for Richmond.