Parity, a non-profit organization aimed at solving Baltimore’s housing crisis, is turning the city around, one townhome at a time. The organization’s incredible business model creates more affordable housing opportunities in the otherwise overlooked neighborhood of West Baltimore. This groundbreaking organization helps low-income families and individuals live in a completely remodeled home, stress-free—houses involved in this process start as low as 180k.

Origin Story

Parity’s idea came to founder Bree Jones a few years ago, when she noticed changes in her hometown of New Rochelle, New York. That change was gentrification, otherwise known as the “revamping” of a neighborhood once often seen as “lower class” to appear more “upscale.” Gentrification often brings with it prohibitively expensive housing, which in turn prices once established residents out of their own neighborhoods. Unfortunately, gentrification is an epidemic that has affected millions of families across the United States. Bree Jones quickly became an advocate for her city, calling on officials to bring more attention to this housing crisis. It wasn’t long before she realized that a more significant impact would happen if she took the matter into her own hands.

Parity Hits the Ground Running

Jones became a housing developer and immediately got to work. Leaving her job on Wall Street, this complete career change allowed her to spot the issues around unequal housing opportunities and figure out a step by step plan to resolve it. She noticed an opportunity for growth in West Baltimore, and knew that it was an excellent location to start this venture. She certainly isn’t the only one recognizing this issue either. 33-year-old Matthew King is also looking for solutions to this ongoing problem. After securing a $25,000 prize from the Social Innovation Lab, Parity was born. She engaged interested homeowners solely through grassroots initiatives and hopes to have every home completely rehabbed within the next six years. Parity participated in Baltimore’s GiveBackHack in early 2019, bringing home the coveted Crowd Favorite award. Jones has hit the ground running and has no plans to slow down any time soon.

The Future of Parity

Jones aims to rehabilitate 96 vacant row houses in West Baltimore. She has also stayed true to her vision while also creating lasting relationships with people in her community, all while making a significant impact on West Baltimore’s housing crisis. The impact that gentrification and housing abandonment has on low-income earners is significant. Parity is a groundbreaking organization that can change how we look at homeownership. Jones is quoted in an article from Johns Hopkins University earlier this year: “Equity for me is about redistributing power. It would be really easy to acquire all of these buildings and use them as rentals in perpetuity, and I’m the only one who benefits from that in terms of building wealth. Equity in my mind is, what value are you creating and leaving for others?” Learn more about Parity here.