Dr. Bernice A. King And Ashley D. Bell Join Forces To Make Homeownership More Accessible
To help bridge the gap between Black homeowners and their white counterparts, Ashley D. Bell and Dr. Bernice A. King have partnered up to launch a new initiative to make the path to homeownership more accessible.
Fintech platform, Ready Life offers consumers a new path to buying a home that does not include credit score requirements. Instead, the clever move aims to equip communities with the tools needed to help them advance economically.
Continuing her father’s legacy
Dr. Bernice King, daughter of civil rights legend, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is following in her father’s footsteps by helping to bridge the racial gap in homeownership. Through her work at Ready Life, more aspiring Black homeowners will have the opportunity to purchase their own homes.
“It goes back to the National Black Bank Foundation and our work to support Black-owned financial institutions. I think it’s been a running conversation with Bernice and me about, ‘How can we do more?'” said Ashley D. Bell.
“We thought about ‘What could be next?’ ‘How do we prepare for the future?’ Dealing with the current crisis with Black banks now, but also thinking, ‘What does the Black bank of the future look like?’ ‘What does lending look like in the future?’ This just seemed to be a natural evolution of that journey of that discussion.”
The homeownership gap
New research has revealed that Black homeownership remains lower than it was a decade ago, and not much has been done to address the Black homeownership gap, which is currently over 30%.
Many potential Black homeowners face significant challenges in their journey to becoming a homeowner, with many facing racial bias. Ashley D. Bell and Dr. Bernice A. King’s new collaboration is here to change that.
The platform, which uses blockchain technology to help support all communities, allows consumers to use Ready Life’s banking platform to pay their rent on time, which will help them qualify for a mortgage.
Black homeowners will not only gain the necessary tools needed to buy their properties, but they will also receive first-class education from industry experts.
