PASADENA, Calif. — A group of girlfriends in Pasadena have come together to invest in their community and build generational wealth.
They started Buy The Block, an investment group focused on buying homes throughout the San Gabriel Valley.
Realtor Jacqueline Kuykendall is part of the founding group. She believes more people in the Black community need to invest in property.
“Because I am in the real estate industry, I see the disparity first hand," she said. "I see what happens when people do have generational wealth and how they’re able to build their wealth buying properties and help their children. I want that for my own community and my own children.”
The idea for Buy the Block followed a viral video, where the owner of a Pasadena laundromat was caught on camera berating a woman for having a Black Lives Matter sign on her car. He later apologized.
Kuykendall and her friends thought it was a perfect time to buy property in Black neighborhoods to serve Black residents.
They want their first purchase to be a multi-unit property to curb gentrification. That’s important to Lynnae Musgrove, who grew up in Pasadena.
"I think in order for us to reclaim our community, we have to purchase properties here, so that it’s reasonable enough for working class people to be able to afford to live and raise their children within this community," Musgrove said.
They plan to buy their first property by the end of the year and will use no more than $1.5 million of their own money to do it. Eventually they want to crowdsource funding and give each person who donates a percentage of equity in the properties. It’s their way of helping everyone build wealth.
“To come together and have people in the community invest in property and say, 'You know that building right there? I own a piece of that,'" Kuykendall said. "That makes people feel positive, and that makes them feel like they can do more and really invest and build their wealth for the family."