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• 1 media/Median net worth race.png 2022-11-29T14:09:31-08:00 Dollars and Cents 34 plain 2022-12-12T12:11:08-08:00      Three years later in 2019 the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank took a look at this very same issue and found very similar results.      The data on the subject of wealth disparities by race begs the question, how did we get here? There are many ways to build wealth. “The acquisition of housing is an effective tool to reduce the risk of poverty and allow low-income individuals the opportunity to build a stake in the future that income by itself cannot provide". The importance of this sentiment cannot be stressed enough. The tried-and-true pathway to building wealth in the United States has been homeownership. The American dream is often described as a "home with a white picket fence". As mentioned before, a home is more than shelter from the elements- they are investments. Home also can be a familial anchor. A place where generations of kin can come together to celebrate the bonds that tie them together. In my opinion a home, no matter the size, provides a family with a sense of permanence, stability, confidence and security.  It surely did for me. I grew up in a 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bathroom 2,235 sqft. home built from the ground up by my grandfather, Howard Harris. He, my grandmother, and their two young sons migrated from Alabama to Ohio in the 1950s. The family first arrived in Lorain, OH and settled in Sandusky, OH shortly thereafter. He and my grandmother Ada had 8 kids by 1962, four boys and four girls, and the two-bedroom home they had was no longer workable. Howard had plans drafted for a home, and set out with his family to build it.

   

   

  Although my grandfather passed away when I was 2 years old, the home he built served as the nexus point for our family for decades after his death. I witnessed my aunts and uncles going out into the world to make their mark professionally, and when they stumbled, as we all do, the home on Farwell was there to catch them to provide a safe space to reconnect with your roots, realign priorities, and gather resources for the next attempt at "adulting". When it was my turn to go forth and make my own mark the sense of pride, confidence, and security gained by growing up in the home helped me immensely. When I stumbled, Farwell was there to cushion the fall.