From ACORN to AHCOPA | Mildred Brown

Mildred Brown (center) in 2018 with Kenneth Bigos receiving an award for her service as President of the Board for AHCOPA.

Honoring Mildred Brown and Her Legacy this Women’s History Month

This Women’s History Month, we reflect on the life of one of the most impactful women in AHCOPA’s history, Mildred Brown. 

Mildred started her work in Nicetown, as a Democratic committee person, and quickly moved up the ranks of housing affordability and economic justice when she was asked to join the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now, or ACORN for short.

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ACORN was the largest economic justice nonprofit organization in the country at the time. When Mildred joined the Philadelphia team, she primarily joined as a housing and voting advocate. Working with the Women’s Community Revitalization Project (WCRP), Mildred’s work at ACORN was able to get the third ever Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) agreement in Philadelphia with the WCRP and First Fidelity Bank.

Mildred went on to do more national work for ACORN. Whether it was small neighborhood improvement projects in Philadelphia or sleeping on people's couches in Saint Louis as they campaigned for low-income individuals, Mildred was there fighting the good fight. Her dedication and work eventually led to her election to the national ACORN board, and following her tenure, she became one of ACORN’s most important D.C. lobbyists. As a lobbyist, Mildred rallied over 100 fellow ACORN members to camp out on the National Mall to push for HUD to convert its many empty houses into affordable homes for first-time homeowners, which was successful.

Even when ACORN eventually began to crumble and disband, Mildred continued her efforts to ensure that the work in Philadelphia thrived. She went on to lead the Philadelphia ACORN branch and preserve their Philadelphia office by offering it to a new local housing counseling agency, where she would eventually go on to work at and become President of their board.

That Housing Counseling Agency was Affordable Housing Centers of Pennsylvania.

While we know a lot about what Mildred stood for and how she came to be such a notable housing activist, we talked with AHCOPA’s founder, Bruce Dorpalen, to get a better understanding of her character.

Mildred’s character easily reflected her work in affordable housing. According to Bruce, Mildred was consistently “calm and level-headed,” “community driven,” with a “deep, quiet, and thoughtful presence,” and “always thinking of the long-term.” Whether budgets were tight or controversies were plaguing the scene, Mildred remained steadfast, calm, and focused on providing services to underserved communities, because, to her, those were inconsequential and small problems compared to the inequality that was plaguing Philadelphia and beyond. Mildred never partook in a battle of egos or power. As long as she was fighting for the people, that’s all that mattered to her.

AHCOPA, Philadelphia, and the Country is better off because of the work Mildred Brown did. We are so thankful to have our roots traced back to such a powerful woman.