Joseph Fields traveled to Honolulu, back to Georgia, and south to the Mexico border before coming home to tackle the barriers that keep Greenville’s Black citizens from owning homes.
Fields leads the Advancing Black Homeownership Project, launched this fall by Habitat for Humanity of Greenville County.
“Homeownership is one of the first paths toward generational wealth. Homeownership – having a decent, safe place to live – is one of the first paths of humanity,” says Fields, Habitat’s Vice President of Equity.
“Diversity is what makes the city thrive and build culture. It can’t be an afterthought. Diversity must be at the forefront of building Greenville.”
Fields might not be back in Greenville if not for his mother … and the Boy Scouts.
While attending Francis Marion University in South Carolina, Fields spent summers from 2009 to 2014 establishing Scout troops in Greenville neighborhoods like Nicholtown, Brutontown and Freetown.
“Today, we call them special emphasis neighborhoods,” Fields explains.