From Redlining to Building a Legacy: One Family’s Journey

Mr. Lyles on the front porch of the home he has owned for over 50 years.

This article was originally featured in our annual print newsletter. Didn’t receive a copy? Join our mailing list.

Ralph and Jenny Lyles celebrated a 50th anniversary recently. Not the usual, matrimonial kind, but fifty years of living in the same house in the Harwood neighborhood of Baltimore that they purchased in 1974 with help from the St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center. When the Lyles bought their house in the early 1970s, St. Ambrose helped cover the down payment on the $11,500 purchase price. Then, in 2023, St. Ambrose stepped in again to help with needed repairs to the roof and bathroom so the Lyles could continue to enjoy the house and the neighborhood they’ve called home for over fifty years. It’s all part of the St. Ambrose Legacy Initiative that supports older members of the Baltimore community and helps them age safely in place with dignity. The program isn’t limited to needed home repairs but includes resources such as estate planning to support the inter-generational transfer of property to stimulate wealth-building among less well-off communities.

In 1974 when they purchased the house, the Lyles had already been living in it as renters for six years. They had three children, a fourth was soon to come, and they were concerned about making the transition to homeownership. That’s when they learned about St. Ambrose, the organization founded by Vincent (Vinnie) Quayle, a Jesuit seminarian, who was determined to protect neighborhood stability at a time when rental properties were being bought up by outside landlords. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 had only recently been enacted and cities like Baltimore had a long way to go to prevent the “block busting” strategies of real estate agents to manipulate housing prices, and “redlining” by banks and lending institutions to maintain segregated neighborhoods.

Over the years, St. Ambrose has broadened its efforts from helping renters purchase their homes to offering building renovation and weatherization upgrades as well as converting unused Catholic school buildings into affordable apartments. In 2019, St. Ambrose launched the Legacy Initiative to ensure that homeowners like the Lyles would be able to stay in their homes as they aged and then to transfer their properties to the next generation. As long-term residents, the Lyles have served their Harwood community in countless ways, as president of the neighborhood association and coordinators for the Baltimore Summer Corps to organizing block parties and volunteering with St. Ambrose itself. During hot summer days the block would occasionally be closed off and the fire hydrants opened so the children could cool off.

When reminded of how active they were back then in building a sense of community in their neighborhood Ralph Lyles laughed and said, “we were young.” Today, the Lyles look back with pride in having raised a family in a community where neighbors looked out for each other. Mrs. Lyles, who has low vision, feels secure in a home she’s known for fifty years. She remembers providing daycare services for many of the children who grew up in the neighborhood. Mr. Lyles appreciates that two other houses on their block also received help from St. Ambrose. As for that other, more traditional anniversary, Jenny and Ralph Lyles celebrated sixty-four years of marriage in March 2026 with their children, four grandkids, and nine great-grandchildren.