VALDOSTA — Organizers of both Black To The Future Action Fund and Climate Power hosted a community event on Feb. 20 to discuss the affordability crisis of housing in Valdosta.

The event took place at Crossing Jordan Baptist Church and opened up the conversation of housing costs in the city, as well as extra costs through things like unnecessary bills and housing supply. Big Nick’s catered the event and Councilman At Large Nick Harden was present to help with both catering and listening to concerns from residents.

Black To The Future Action Fund is a national organization dedicated to uplifting Black voices in America and providing a space for commentary and action. Their project in Valdosta, titled “Our Homes, Our Future” focuses on teaming up with and putting pressure on local governments and community leadership to create abundant, affordable housing for everyone in the city.

The event started with the catered lunch and conversations about where attendees find individual problems in Valdosta’s housing. Residents spoke with members of both organizations and expressed their concerns surrounding their neighborhoods and what their landlords or local government was doing in order to help.

After lunch, guests moved into the main area for a panel discussion with members of the organizations who were hosting, as well as local leadership and influential members of the public. These included Dr. Ronnie J. Mathis, senior pastor of Crossing Jordan Baptist Church; Kelley Saxon, a local community organizer and activist; Mia Logan, senior advisor for Climate Power, and Russell Armstrong, senior manager for policy campaigns at Black to the Future Action Fund. Harden was also present for a portion of the panel to hear residential concerns.

Panelists were asked questions about Valdosta housing and what can be done to make it more affordable and fair, especially for the Black community in Valdosta. They were also asked about their personal experiences with these issues.

“Everything in my life got the memo about affordability except my paycheck,” Mathis said. “Everything has increased, but my income didn’t increase.”

This was a common sentiment among both panelists and audience members; according to BTTFAF, one in three Valdosta families live under the poverty line, with the average income of a Black household estimated to be around $34,000 a year, well below that national average.

Some of these housing concerns are based in natural disaster recovery, and Valdosta has suffered from multiple unprecedented weather events and severe storms in the past three years alone. 

“We had [Hurricane] Idalia, we had [Hurricane] Debby, we had [Hurricane] Helene, we had biblical flooding, and then we had snow,” Saxon said. “We had all of this back-to-back-to-back, and one thing we say is ‘disasters don’t discriminate, but recovery does.’”

Black To The Future Action Fund and Climate Power meet twice a month to discuss further action to take to prevent families in Valdosta from housing insecurity, a major part of their national campaign for a better future. For more information on Black To The Future Action Fund, their website can be found at https://black2thefuture.org/

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