This past April, National Fair Housing Month, Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) and local Habitat affiliates from rural, suburban, and urban regions across the country put housing center stage via the ninth annual Home is the Key campaign. The national awareness and fundraising effort called attention to the need for affordable housing and homeownership. Habitat SKKC inspired our local community via in-store donations across our four retail locations; a Community Build Day; and our premiere event, From Dream to Reality: Advancing Equity in Homeownership.
On April 10, 2025, one day before the 57th anniversary of the passage of the landmark Fair Housing Act, Habitat SKKC partnered with HFHI and The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change (The King Center) to host the inspiring event From Dream to Reality. Together, we welcomed key voices in housing justice: Dr. Bernice A. King, daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and CEO of The King Center; academic and bestselling author Richard Rothstein; and Nicole Bascomb-Green, a member of the core leadership team for the Black Home Initiative.
Habitat SKKC CEO Brett D’Antonio began the morning’s festivities by sharing his hope that the day’s speakers would inspire attendees to become changemakers in affordable homeownership. He shared with the audience of the positive impact Habitat SKKC has: “Through our work, we create communities that connect individuals and families with positive ripple effects that include improved financial stability, better educational outcomes for children, and renewed hope for the future.”
Natosha Reid Rice, Vice President of Housing Opportunities & Mission Engagement for HFHI, served as the event emcee and brought energy, historical context, and curiosity to the stage. Explaining HFHI’s annual Home is the Key campaign, she reminded the audience that the US housing crisis affects every region in the country; it’s no less prevalent in small towns than it is in urban areas like Seattle. Home is the Key serves to emphasize that shelter is not a privilege but a human need.
Nicole Bascomb-Green took the stage for the first keynote. Representing the BHI, Bascomb-Green shared the coalition’s goal of helping Black Washingtonians in realizing the dream of homeownership, specifically by creating 1,500 new Black homeownership opportunities in South Seattle, South King County, and North Pierce County in the next five years. This goal necessitates the roughly 120 partners in the BHI network (of which Habitat SKKC is a member) to collaborate and share resources.
“[We’re] supporting each other when it may seem counterintuitive to do so, or uncomfortable because we live in a society with a scarcity mindset. But we have a gift and an opportunity to do history-making work, and I for one hope we all are ready to embrace our part in elevating this work,” Bascomb-Green said.
Richard Rothstein, author of the bestselling book The Color of Law, detailed how the biggest problem facing children is segregated schools. Schools are segregated because the neighborhoods where they are located are segregated. He explained how he once believed that schools were this way because of de facto segregation: natural, by accident. Once he began to research and found that this was a myth, Rothstein realized the U.S. has segregation because of racially discriminant housing policies in our government. Had the government followed their constitutional responsibility, then private bigotry wouldn’t have flourished in our neighborhoods.
Rothstein argued, “The enormous disparity in housing that the Black Home Initiative is addressing is the result of unconstitutional government policy that has never been remedied … We need to have a new Civil Rights movement with Black and white people joined in a common enterprise to address local problems that reinforce unconstitutional segregation.”
Dr. Bernice A. King, who took to the stage as the final keynote, noted the significance of the moment: “I am honored to participate in this momentous occasion, which includes the naming of a single-building, multi-family home development in the only county named for my father.”
King County, Washington’s largest county, adopted the name as a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1986 to honor his life and legacy as a civil rights activist. Dr. Bernice A. King detailed the historical legacy of the 1968 Fair Housing Act, a landmark law that was passed a mere seven days after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. The law was a direct response to the moral urgency of his work of championing the cause of fair and equitable housing for all Americans.
Dr. Bernice A. King added, “While many remember his pivotal role in advancing civil rights and economic justice, my father understood that civil rights were not just about the right to vote, the right to sit at a lunch counter, or the right to ride at the front of the bus. It’s crucial to recognize its profound commitment to ensure that every individual, regardless of race or socioeconomic status, has access to safe and affordable housing.”
The keynote speeches and panel conversation left attendees energized and committed to advancing housing equity. Habitat SKKC closed the event by paying tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and revealed the name of the largest single-building, multi-family building in Habitat’s history: Liberty Commons.
“The name ‘Liberty Commons’ honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of the freedom promised in our constitution to all people,” D’Antonio explained of the meaning behind the name. The building will stand as a testament to the King family’s legacy and will inspire the next generation of fair housing advocates.
From Dream to Reality was livestreamed to viewers across the U.S., and multiple Habitat affiliates hosted staff watch parties. A recording of the event is available for viewing here.
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In his final sermon, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. surveyed the landscape of the Civil Rights
Movement and observed, “What we are facing today is the fact that through our scientific
and technological genius we’ve made of this world a neighborhood. And now through our
moral and ethical commitment we must make of it a brotherhood … This is the great issue
facing us today. No individual can live alone; no nation can live alone. We are tied together.”
Events like From Dream to Reality remind us of the why of what we do. Habitat SKKC builds homes, and through that work, we create communities. In other words, building neighborhoods is the process, creating brotherhoods is the impact.
Building on the event’s momentum, Habitat SKKC hosted a Community Build Day at Yarrow Cottages two days later. Over 20 volunteers from our community and sponsor group Lowe’s built scaffolding, attached house wrap, and helped build walls, making a lasting impact on the Yarrow Cottages neighborhood.
The month wrapped up with a total of $8,800 in donations via our in-store activations. The money raised at Habitat Stores will go directly toward building and preserving safe, stable homes for individuals and families in our region.
This was our most ambitious Home is the Key campaign to date, in its activities, goals, and impact. We’re thankful to everyone who participated this month in Home is the Key as volunteers, donors, and supporters of our programs.
At our event, Dr. Bernice A. King reiterated her father’s vision of the Beloved Community, which she added is “within our reach, but only if we build it together.” This past month, we made huge strides in our effort to build the Beloved Community at Liberty Commons.