SoFi has teamed with the Jayson Tatum Foundation to help more under-resourced St. Louis travel a path to home ownership.
When asked about purchasing his first home after signing with the Boston Celtics, Tatum told the Associated Press, “It didn’t seem real.”
Tatum wants to help others in his hometown of St. Louis have the same experience and SoFi has given his foundation $1 million to boost the effort.
Tatum’s nonprofit hosts toy drives, back-to-school giveaways and basketball camps in St. Louis. It also offers scholarships to St. Louis high school students along with mentoring.
The donation will be included in a program that will support single parents, an idea Tatum said he had for a long time and was waiting to find the right moment to launch.
SoFi will contribute the funds over three to five years and the foundation will determine how to select participants, who are not required to take out a mortgage through SoFi. SoFi will also offer all participants access to financial advisory services and tools.
“I can’t stress enough how excited I am just knowing how many lives and the families that we can impact,” Tatum said.
“And I can only imagine how much this would have impacted myself and my mom growing up.”
Tatum, 25, was raised by his mother, Brandy Cole-Barnes, who was 19 when he was born.
“Me and my mom, we didn’t know about investments or savings accounts when we were growing up. But obviously when I got to the NBA and started to make money, we had to ask questions and learn about things,” Tatum said.
“And it was always important for me, even when I was younger. I just knew I wanted to give back and help people that looked like me and grew up like me.
Tatum said there are many St. Louisans trying to change their life and their situation.
“It’s tough. Nobody was ever successful on their own. We all somewhere along the way needed help or assistance from somebody that we knew or didn’t know,” he said.
Anthony Noto, SoFi CEO, said in a release, “Buying a home is a significant milestone – representing stability, security, and investment – these are things we believe everyone deserves a chance at achieving on their financial journey.”
The gap between Black and White homeownership remains significant and difficult to narrow. Its persistence has reduced the ability for Black families to create and pass down wealth for generations.
While homeownership rates among all minority groups have increased recently, Black homeownership still lags the furthest behind the White homeownership rate, according to a report released this week from the National Association of Realtors using data from 2022, the most recent American Community Survey from the US Census Bureau.
While Black Americans also saw homeownership advance, the gain was modest. And at 44.1%, their rate is notably lower than that for Asian, Hispanic and White Americans. The gap between Black people and Whites – the highest among the four major groups – widened by a percentage point from 2012, to 28 percentage points.
“Minority homeownership gained ground,” Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research, said in a statement. “While the gains should be celebrated, the pathway into homeownership remains arduous for minority buyers.”
According to the NAR report, other home buyers of color have a more difficult time saving for a down payment, spending higher percentages of income on rent and student loan payment.
Black homebuyers reported the highest levels of student-loan debt among all groups, with 41% carrying a record high median debt of $46,000, while 29% of Hispanic buyers had student loan debt with a median of $33,000.
According to data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, Black and Hispanic homebuyers face additional barriers in securing mortgages, such as higher denial rates compared with their White and Asian counterparts.
Even after securing a loan challenges mount. The NAR report highlights that for loans originated in 2022, 20% for Black people and 21% for Hispanics exceeded 6%, in contrast with lower percentages among Asian and White borrowers.
