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A Black Philadelphia family used a $10,000 reparations grant from a Quaker congregation to help buy their first home, turning a decade-long goal of homeownership into reality.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Charmira and Quincy Pilgrim purchased their three-bedroom home in West Oak Lane for $315,000 in May. The couple had been saving for a home but were still thousands of dollars short of the down payment and closing costs.
“It was a blessing that I ended up getting the grant because money was tight,” Charmira Pilgrim, a 32-year-old special-education teacher and case manager, told the Inquirer.
The grant came from Green Street Friends Meeting, a Quaker congregation in Germantown that is using reparations funds to help Black Philadelphians become homeowners. The congregation has pledged to spend $50,000 a year for 10 years as part of its reparations work, according to the Inquirer.
Green Street is funding five $10,000 first-time homebuyer grants through birdSEED’s Housing Justice Grant Program. The money is for Black homebuyers purchasing homes in Philadelphia ZIP codes 19144 or 19138.
The Inquirer reported that Green Street’s reparations efforts are intended to redistribute wealth to Black residents of Germantown and address the effects of historical discrimination.
The congregation’s reparations work has also included legal assistance for Black homeowners, estate-planning services, funding for Black midwives and music education for Black youth.
For the Pilgrim family, the grant helped make homeownership possible shortly before their fifth child was born.
“Being a homeowner means freedom,” Charmira told the Inquirer. “I see this as an opportunity for my kids to have a legacy.”
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