Inaugural Home Ownership Summit Continues Montgomery’s Push for Housing Reform

Montgomery City Councilmember Marche Johnson teamed up with Trustmark and the Urban League of Alabama (Birmingham, AL) to host a first of its kind home ownership summit.

The event, which is planned to be hosted annually from here on out, focuses on building a foundation for the vision of becoming a homeowner.

Around 100 people came to the inaugural summit to learn anything from credit management to how the real estate industry works.

“I was looking to get started getting a new home because I was kind of displaced from my house earlier in the year,” said attendee Shakeira Howard. “I learned about appraisals, I didn’t know about that. Debt to income ratio when trying to get a house, how important having a realtor is.”

It’s no secret: the price of a house in the United States is on the rise and affordable housing units are struggling to keep up.

Montgomery Housing Authority President Monica Whiting said during the event’s panel discussion that “over 7,000 people” are on their waiting list for either public housing or their housing choice voucher program.

The event aims to make the search process not as intimidating, because if you can afford it, officials say buying a home can create generational wealth.

“In District 3 we have about 73% of my homes are housed through tenants, so they’re leasing the properties and so money doesn’t necessarily get put into those communities,” councilwoman Johnson explained.

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