While federal Reparations remain our long-term goal, Reparation Generation (RepGen) is acting now to demonstrate what real repair can look like in people’s lives today. The HORT Program is one of RepGen’s flagship models, offering direct financial repair in the form of $25,000 Reparative Transfers to Black Descendants of Enslaved People in the U.S. to support homeownership in Metro Detroit.
Homeownership is the primary way most Americans build generational wealth. Yet, due to the legacy of slavery, redlining, discrimination in lending, and displacement, Black Americans have faced systemic exclusion from this pathway.
The HORT Program provides $25,000 Reparative Transfers (voluntary non-recourse, non-repayable financial payments), homebuyer mentorship, and restorative genealogy consultations. We aim to create a replicable and scalable model, rooted in the United Nations Reparations Framework, for providing partial compensatory repair for the harm experienced by Black Descendants of Enslaved People in the U.S. who, historically and presently, face systemic barriers—and, in many cases, outright exclusion—from homeownership.
The findings from evaluating the HORT program are used to inform reparative program design nationally and show that reparative acts can heal harm, create wealth and benefit recipients and contributors alike, bolstering the case for a federal program. Learn more about our Reparative Evaluation.
Finally, the HORT Program is intended to provide Reparative Transfers to a specific harmed class of Americans: Black Descendants of Enslaved People in the U.S. Enrollees meet with RepGen’s Restorative Genealogist to document evidence of their eligibility. This free Restorative Genealogy consultation often restores access to family history that was untold, lost, or stolen from HORT applicants and their communities due to systemic racism. Recipients have reported significant benefits resulting from completing the HORT program, including greater safety, proximity to community resources, financial stability, and generational security.
Since its launch, RepGen has:
Informed by two years of program evaluation and homeowner experiences, HORT 3.0 includes:
Applicants will:
Realtors and lenders who serve the Metro Detroit Area and wish to be included on the HORT 3.0 Resource List will attend a virtual orientation on September 2nd or 3rd at 4:00 pm ET to better support prospective homebuyers and understand RepGen’s reparative approach. Sign up here.
Questions? Contact Karen Hughes, HORT 3.0 Program Manager, at [email protected].
“Being able to purchase a house…was so out of reach until I heard about [the HORT Program]. And so it really did change our lives.”
“[In my new home] I’m around established neighborhood grocery stores…and I’m close to Eastern Market….I can look out my balcony over into the Dequindre cut where they have all types of events and concerts. It’s a lot more livelier than my old neighborhood.”
“Every part of the process was exciting. I mean, you know, how many people can say that they’re finding out about their genealogy, their lineage, as well as receiving $25,000 to help purchase a home?”
RepGen’s Reparative Evaluation model is grounded in the five Social Determinants of Health.
Our Reparative Evaluation program evaluates HORT participants and recipients alike to answer questions such as, “Did this reparative transfer heal harm to the recipient and the contributor?” Did it create wealth? Did it benefit the community at large? The findings guide our ongoing program iterations and are shared publicly via our Annual Impact Report, newsletters, events, and forums. We meet with policymakers and reparations movement leaders to help inform the design of reparative programs for maximum impact and to demonstrate the efficacy of Reparative Acts. We believe gathering evidence of the need for and impact of Reparations Programs is critical to maintaining momentum and buttressing the efforts of local, state, and federal allies. Finally, our Reparative Evaluation model aims to center participant voices, be mutually beneficial, be cost-effective and replicable, and not cause harm or extract resources.
Sign up for updates via the RepGen Newsletter or contribute to the HORT 3.0 Fund today.
