HELP PEOPLE BUY THEIR FIRST HOME. PITTSBURGH, THE CITY OF CHAMPAIGN OWNS, BUT APPARENTLY NOT FOR EVERYONE. A REPORT CAME OUT A FEW YEARS AGO BY THE GENDER EQUITY COMMITTEE THAT SHOWED BLACK WOMEN IN PITTSBURGH COULD IMPROVE THEIR LIVES BY MOVING TO ANY OTHER CITY. WHAT IT BASICALLY STATED IS THAT BLACK WOMEN COULD DO BETTER LIVING ANYWHERE ELSE IN THIS COUNTRY BESIDES PITTSBURGH. WE’RE THE WORST. WE ARE THE WORST. WE ARE AT THE VERY BOTTOM. AND LITERALLY IT SAID THAT WE WOULD DO BETTER LIVING ANYWHERE ELSE. THAT’S SHOCKING. IT WAS VERY SHOCKING. THAT SPARKED TAMMY THOMPSON INTO ACTION. SHE FOUNDED A NONPROFIT CALLED CATAPULT GREATER PITTSBURGH TO HELP PEOPLE IN POVERTY, ESPECIALLY BLACK SINGLE MOTHERS, TO LEARN TO BECOME ENTREPRENEURS AND BECOME HOMEOWNERS. SINCE SHE FOUNDED THE GROUP, SHE’S HELPED MORE THAN 100 PEOPLE BUY THEIR FIRST HOME CATAPULT CAN OFFER AS MUCH AS $5,000 FOR CLOSING COSTS AND IS ALSO WORKING ON A NEW PROGRAM WITH PITTSBURGH HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY TO OFFER UP TO $25,000 FOR A DOWN PAYMENT. WE SEE PEOPLE COME THROUGH THESE DOORS WHO THEY NEVER WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT HOMEOWNERSHIP WAS AN OPTION FOR THEM. RIGHT. BECAUSE THEY DID THEY DIDN’T SEE IT RIGHT THERE. THEIR FAMILIES WERE IN HOMEOWNERS. THEIR NEIGHBORS WEREN’T HOMEOWNERS. AND THEY COME HERE AND THEY REALIZE THIS IS FOR ME, LIKE I DO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO THIS. AND THE IMPACT IS GENERATIONAL. IT IS THE OPPORTUNITY TO PASS THINGS ALONG TO GENERATIONS THAT ARE COMING BEHIND YOU. AND SO BLACK PEOPLE IN THIS CITY HISTORICALLY, IN TERMS OF JUST THE STATISTICS, WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO AMASS THE SAME TYPES OF GENERATIONAL WEALTH AS MAYBE OUR WHITE COUNTERPARTS. AND SO FOR PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO PASS SOMETHING ALONG TO THEIR CHILDREN, TO THEIR GRANDCHILDREN, THAT CHANGES THE TRAJECTORY OF A WHOLE ENTIRE FAMILY. NOW SHE’S WORKING WITH FOUNDATIONS AND OUR REGION TO RAISE MONEY AND HELP OTHERS CHANGE THEIR LIVES. AND, SHE ADDS, IT’S NOT ONLY GOOD FOR THAT HOMEOWNER, FOR THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY