Honoring Black History Month

Posted Feb 1, 2022

Today marks the start of Black History Month, a time for recognizing and honoring the historical achievements of Black Americans.

For the 240+ community development organization’s within NeighborWorks America, one of the most recognizable names and faces is that of Dorothy Mae Richardson, who bravely advanced racial equity in affordable housing and inspired NeighborWorks.

Dorothy championed for safe, quality, and affordable housing for residents of her Northside Pittsburgh community. During the 1960s, trends in discriminatory lending and urban renewal created a mountain of hurdles to homeownership, neighborhood stability, and affordable housing for Black Americans.

In response to an urban renewal threat to her community, and the general lack of affordable housing opportunities for poor renters, Richardson founded the resident and all women-led, Citizens Against Slum Housing (CASH). She believed, first, that instead of tearing down the deteriorated homes in her neighborhood, landlords should be held accountable and responsible for improving their dilapidated properties, and, second, that financial institutions and government officials should be accountable for the negative results of redlining, and play an active role in revitalizing neighborhoods.

In 1968, CASH became Neighborhood Housing Services, or NHS. In the years that followed, in a public-partnership with 16 financial institutions, NHS successfully secured a $1 million high-risk revolving loan for to fuel homeownership and home repairs, an effort that is said to have been the blueprint for the Community Reinvestment Act.

Richardson’s work with NHS would eventually lay the groundwork for NeighborWorks America, INHS’s parent organization that works to “create opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives and strengthen their communities.”

Watch the memorial video, Dorothy Mae Richardson: A Visionary, created by NeighborWorks America, to learn more about Dorothy and her story.