One Economy
This project is possible thanks to the leadership of the One Economy project which advances the full economic inclusion of African American and African residents of Polk County, Iowa. Led by The Directors Council, a team of local housing, lending, real estate professionals and community members came together in 2021 to envision ways the Polk County community could make progress on closing its racial homeownership gap, among other challenges.
The housing team was inspired by efforts like the 3by30 initiative and the Convergence program sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The lesson they drew from those efforts was that consistent engagement among the housing community - lenders, real estate professionals and others - is needed to develop programs, inspire careers, support aspiring homeowners, and ultimately create homeownership opportunity for all. A number of the organizations whose programs and services are listed in the resource guides were participants in this effort.
This project is dedicated to the memory of Teree Caldwell-Johnson, one of the key leaders in establishing the One Economy project who passed away on Easter in 2024.
Our story
Homeownership Incubator Pitch Competition
During the 2023 HousingIowa Conference, a group of our project team members including Corinthian Baptist Church, Community State Bank, the Polk County Housing Trust Fund, and Neighborhood Finance Corporation were awarded a grant by the Iowa Finance Authority to continue this project by producing a series of videos highlighting steps in the homeownership process. Our team has created this website to showcase the videos as well as offer the Affordable Homeownership Resource Guide on an ongoing basis, now in a digital format.
Corinthian Cares & VAXDSM
During the COVID19 pandemic, in response to racial and ethnic disparities in vaccination rates, a group of organizational partners including Corinthian Baptist Church, Strategic America, United Way of Central Iowa, AmeriCorps VISTA, Des Moines Public Schools and MercyOne came together to provide folks trusted public health information and the opportunity to become vaccinated. The effort resulted in team members developing a successful outreach strategy and as the pandemic abated, team members asked themselves what other challenges in the community were worth taking on. Housing rose to the top, and VAXDSM team members got in touch with the One Economy Housing team, another link in the chain to provide this project. The team produced a written Affordable Homeownership Resource Guide which volunteers distributed widely around town.
Homeownership rates in Polk County, Iowa
70.5%
Overall rate
89.7%
Pacific islander
71.9%
White
64.4%
Native American
58.0%
Other
53.9%
Asian
52.3%
Hispanic
29.7%
Black