“Giving More of Our Neighbors Access to the Opportunities Homeownership Affords”: Q+A with Umpqua Bank’s Randy Choy
LISC is working with Umpqua Bank to tackle the systemic roadblocks that prevent many communities of color and rural residents from buying a home. In a Q+A with Umpqua Bank’s Randy Choy, we learn why expanding fair access to quality homeownership opportunities is so important to the bank, and to Choy.
Photo above: Staff from Community Housing Improvement Program, a LISC partner in northern California, on the site of homes being built through its self-help program.
Photo credit: Rebecca Canterbury
Homeownership is a critical part of LISC’s investments to upend racial health, wealth and opportunity gaps. But systemic roadblocks prevent many communities of color and rural residents from buying a home. With support from Umpqua Bank, through the Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation, LISC is tackling these barriers by pursuing locally-driven solutions to close those gaps and expand fair access to quality homeownership opportunities for families in Washington, California, and Oregon.
In Washington’s Puget Sound region, for example, Umpqua’s funding is fueling LISC’s work with the City of Seattle Office of Housing and the Black Home Initiative to design and manage predevelopment funds to build affordable, for-sale homes. In rural California, where self-help programs are an effective pathway to homeownership for families with limited incomes, LISC is helping community partners create outreach strategies to encourage more Black and Native households to join in these programs.
As we continue our work to make homeownership a reality for more families on the West Coast, LISC checked in with Umpqua Bank’s Randy Choy, vice president of philanthropy programs and managing director of the Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation. Check out our Q+A below to learn why expanding access to homeownership is so important to Umpqua Bank, and to Choy.
Why has Umpqua Bank, through the Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation, made a commitment to expand homeownership for communities of color?
At the core, Umpqua’s commitment reflects the vital role we believe banks like ours can play as catalyst for good in all the communities we serve, especially when it comes to removing barriers to economic opportunity. Few priorities are more central to the long-term health of our communities right now than ensuring greater access to affordable homeownership.
Homeownership is foundational to building intergenerational wealth and closing the wealth gap experienced by communities of color that has continued to expand since the Great Recession and, more recently, the pandemic. As a bank, we’re uniquely positioned to contribute expertise and resources to this challenge across our footprint, particularly when combined with the power of creative and effective partners dedicated to giving more of our neighbors access to the opportunities homeownership affords.
What makes LISC a good partner for Umpqua Bank?
We can’t think of a better partner than LISC when it comes to expanding homeownership in our communities. Umpqua Bank looks for like-minded partners that can most effectively leverage what we bring to the table as a bank and charitable foundation and have a strong vision for how our support can expand and improve the great work already having an impact.
LISC is not only one of the foremost leaders in creating greater access to affordable homeownership across the U.S., it is specifically committed to expanding access in both urban and rural communities throughout our footprint. Equally as important, LISC had a clear vision for how our support will help build the infrastructure needed to exponentially expand homeownership opportunities in diverse communities where the need is greatest in Washington, California, and Oregon.
What does it mean to you, on a personal level, to be part of efforts to close racial gaps in homeownership?
Owning a home is one of the fundamental and foundational steps in building economic prosperity for one’s family. My parents and family immigrated to the United States, and eventually buying our home was so important in putting down roots and settling into our Portland, Oregon neighborhood and community. If our partnership with LISC can provide other under-resourced and under-served families with the dream of owning a home, there is no better investment in my opinion.
