For the next entry in our Voices from the Region series, we had the opportunity to interview Dr. Mae Worthey-Thomas, the CEO of the Maggie Walker Community Land Trust (MWCLT).
The MWCLT works to guarantee perpetual housing affordability by creating homes that are sold to qualified low and moderate-income buyers while retaining ownership of the land itself. This approach is an affordable alternative to renting, allowing families to build wealth through monthly mortgage payments.
Dr. Worthey-Thomas was named CEO of the MWCLT in February of this year. As someone leading one of the most well-known housing affordability organizations in Richmond with a stated commitment to racial equity, we were eager to hear her perspective.
Like all of our Voices from the Region interviews, we asked how she specifically defined equity in this space and what it looks like when it’s put into practice.
“I define health and racial equity as the right of every individual to have equal access to high quality healthcare without regards to race or socio-economic status,” Dr. Worthey-Thomas said. “In practice, this looks like healthcare providers leading with empathy, unclouded by stereotypes or judgement as they exhaust all medical knowledge in administering care to black and brown patients, just as they would other patients.”
She added that medical professionals “should consider the real possibility that patients have not received the attentiveness they deserve in seeking quality care, therefore may express apprehension and mistrust of white medical providers.”
Because Dr. Worthey-Thomas works in the affordable housing space, she shared that her professional focus is primarily on racial and ethnic equity, where the majority of the MWCLT’s clients are low to moderate income, and often from minority communities. But she was quick to point out that none of these are standalone issues, and it’s impossible to address one kind of inequity without taking into account many others.
“There is a direct intersection of health, housing and racial equity as minorities and low income individuals often experience multiple concerns,” she said. “The lack of safe, clean, stable, affordable housing can lead to a number of mental and physical comorbidities…Housing that’s unfit for habitation can be racked with disease-causing elements leading to breathing problems, physical issues, mental decline, and overall poor health.”
When asked to identify the biggest challenge impeding progress towards achieving health, racial and ethnic equity, it should come as no surprise that Dr. Worthey-Thomas identified the lack of affordable housing.
She mentioned that Richmond, like so many other cities and towns across the country, are plagued by an enduring affordable housing crisis. The crisis has been exacerbated, in Dr. Worthey-Thomas’ view, by rising inflation, the worsening competition for private and public funding, and the current political climate which has attacked diversity and equity, to the detriment of those who are most in need of support.
Yet even during her short time as the CEO of the MWCLT, Dr. Worthey-Thomas has seen hopeful changes.
“I’m new to the community,” she said, “but the Maggie Walker Community Land Trust has seen a significant increase in the amount of financial support for the construction of new homes, which positively impacts health outcomes.”
Yet when asked what one thing she would change across the region to improve health, racial and ethnic equity outcomes, her response might appear unexpected: community education.
“If I could change one thing, it would be educating the community about the issues of housing, health, and racial equity,” she said. “I believe there is a lack of awareness about how these issues intersect, and misinformation is disseminated.”
With more education, community engagement, and increased awareness about the true impacts of the housing crisis, Dr. Worthey-Thomas believes region residents would be more committed to coming together to solve this enduring problem.
“More public awareness would help well-meaning neighbors to feel greater empathy for those less fortunate, especially children,” she said. “I believe this lack of awareness leads to NIMBYism (Not In My Backyard), creating fear that prevents affordable housing from being built in certain areas of town. This awareness will help individuals appreciate that all neighbors can be good neighbors and that socio-economic status does not define character.”
This approach, dedicated to combatting misinformation, emphasizing education, and turning fear into understanding, is central to how Dr. Worthey-Thomas views her work and the work we should all embrace as members of the same community.
“I wholeheartedly believe that the path forward is paved with mutual respect, understanding, empathy, awareness and grace,” she said. “We don’t have the luxury of turning a blind eye and saying ‘not my problem’ or ‘not in my backyard.’”
Instead, Dr. Worthey-Thomas argues, we should focus on what has always brought Richmond, and indeed the entire region, together: each other.
“We have a tremendously strong, close knit community that at its core wants the best for everyone around us,” she said. “When we tap into the heart of our inherently kind and caring neighbors, we remind them of their responsibility to help build an environment that is happy and healthy for their future generations and all generations to come.”