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The continued exclusion of Black and minority residents from full economic opportunities cannot be ignored. <br />These communities’ inability to grow wealth due to the legacy of racist policies and insufficient action has had <br />massive consequences for residents of South Bend’s predominately Black neighborhoods. <br />While South Bend’s predominately white neighborhoods enjoy sustained progress through higher home <br />values, gainful employment opportunities, and compounded wealth, predominately Black neighborhoods see <br />higher rates of home vacancy and rentership, declining property equity percentages, and a sustained lack of <br />financing options available to invest in a house and a neighborhood they call home. <br />Through the initial steps of the Financial Empowerment Blueprint, including the exploration of a Financial <br />Empowerment Center in the newly renovated Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, our long-term <br />roadmap toward policy change and enfranchisement of these communities aims to address these disparities <br />that too many have suffered for too long. <br />Figure 8: Credit Score by Census Tract, 2022 <br />Source: Experian, 2022 <br />FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT 13