Brownsville Partnership 9th Annual Hope Summit
On October 16, 2021, the Brownville Partnership hosted its 9th Annual Hope summit. We were able to hear from three panelists invested in Brownsville's growth. During the session, we engaged in a great conversation focusing on Building A Bolder Brownsville, which focused on financial well-being.
Using a collective lens, moderator Keith Little, President & CEO of SCO Family of Services, eloquently set the stage for panelists La’Shawn Allen-Muhammad, Executive Director, Central Brooklyn Economic Development Corp, Tiera Mack, Executive Director, Pitkin Avenue BID, Joseph Thompson, Financial Services Advisor, Co-founder & Managing Partner and Roger King, Co-founder & Managing Partner, Rhonell, Manna & Associates to engage in a powerful and insightful discussion focused on increasing the empowerment of Brownsville by taking a more proactive versus reactive approach to ensuring financial well-being.
Michelle Blassou, Project Manager & Harrison Haigood, Outreach & Data Manager-Community Action for Healthy Homes, gave an upbeat and in-depth presentation on the Brownsville Partnership’s newest collaboration with One Brooklyn Health to identify, fix, repair, and track repairs that have the biggest impact on people’s health to ensure that individuals and families have a healthy home to live in. Utilizing a “no survey without service” approach, survey teams employ a 9 Healthy Living Practices model to address the most immediate safety and environmental issues that contribute to increased health issues, followed by major fixes local tradespeople perform within 2-3 weeks following the initial survey. Chental Cunin, Sr. Case Manager, and Jaylin Butts, Outreach Team Member, Riseboro Community Partnership, led an informative breakout discussion focused on housing stability and the best ways for residents at risk of eviction to connect to vital resources available. At the same time, Aileen Gonzalez, Early Intervention Ambassador, United For Brownsville, the benefits of accessing Early Intervention assessments and services for children 0-3 respectively, are critically important to the empowerment of the community.
Key Takeaways:
What wealth means to Black and Brown communities is different in other communities due to racial wealth gaps, lack of access to financial resources, and lack of ownership opportunities- homes, businesses, etc.
Wealth concerns individual wellness; the most significant asset any person owns is their health. There is a disparity in our community.
Our economic and cultural base surrounds wealth; owning the properties in which we live keeps the wealth within the community; Utilizing the resources available within and to the community; Financial Literacy is essential.
Ownership and investing is the best way to accumulate wealth.
Actions We Will Take:
Partner with local organizations to:
Provide financial counseling & credit repair services - learn more by going to video/hybrid session
Build on the wealth-building panel to launch a series starting in January 2022. Stay tuned and be sure to sign up for updates!
Provide quarterly updates and learning opportunities on our Community Action for Healthy Homes initiative.
Here you will find the full PowerPoint presentation from the event.