First grantee of St. Paul’s Inheritance Fund gets down payment, and a small measure of justice
MinnPost, Sept 18, 2023
The two-story red brick home dates to the early 20th century, and like many in St. Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood, it’s showing its age. It could use tender loving care: paint, lawn care and surface maintenance. If the announcement from Mayor Carter’s team was any indication, it’s about to get it. The house was sold to Anthony Bradford, the first recipient of the city’s Inheritance Fund, and he and his cat were excited to move in.
The program is a good example of the Carter administration approach to policy, a small-scale closely targeted effort aimed at specific historical injustices. In this case, it mitigates one of the city’s most notorious decisions: the routing of the central I-94 freeway through the then-thriving Rondo neighborhood, home to the vast majority of St. Paul’s African Americans. Thousands of people were displaced, families uprooted, and generational wealth lost due to political and automobile expediency.
With the Inheritance Fund program, there’s some small measure of justice as descendants of “old Rondo” can apply for targeted home ownership and renovation funding. Bradford is the first to receive city assistance for a down payment, and hopefully not the last.