FAQs

The median and mean wealth of Black families is less than 15% that of Caucasian families, at $24K and $142K respectively.'

Since policymakers last addressed Social Security solvency in 1983, its payroll tax base has eroded. SSI’s income disregards have been frozen for almost 50 years, since SSI was enacted in 1972.

Most minority Seniors, (in-low income communities) retire with no IRA or 401k plan, no savings or pensions and have to depend on their Social Security Benefits, alone. Individual that file for social security may only qualify for $25K-34K or $32K to $44K for married couples filing jointly. Also, they may have to pay income tax up to 50% of their benefits. When policymakers established SSI, they sought to assure that “aged, blind, and disabled people would no longer have to subsist on below-poverty-level incomes.”

Affordable housing is needed for lower-income residents in gentrifying neighborhoods can become scarce, displacing longtime residents as the cost of living in the neighborhood increases. This includes evictions, increased rent, and deliberate neglect of dwelling upkeep (by a landlord), all of which threaten a residents’ ability to stay put.