Our New Community Land Trust
We're thrilled to announce we'll soon be launching a community land trust!
Through this exciting new program, we'll be able to help close the access gap for low-to-middle income individuals & families seeking affordable housing. We've been developing plans for our CLT for quite some time, and we're very close to making it official!
We can't wait to bring the program to full fruition, which will help bolster our ongoing mission to empower underserved kids & families all throughout the community.
More exciting info coming soon!
What Are Community Land Trusts?
Community land trusts (CLTs) are designed to ensure community stewardship of land. CLTs can be used for many different types of development (including commercial and retail), but they're primarily used to ensure long-term housing affordability. To do so, the trust acquires land and maintains permanent ownership of it, then enters into long-term, renewable leases with prospective homeowners, instead of traditional sales. By separating the ownership of land and housing, this innovative approach prevents market factors from causing prices to rise significantly, ensuring housing will remain affordable for future generations.
CLTs play a critical role in building community wealth in several key ways, including:
- Providing low and moderate-income individuals with the opportunity to build equity through homeownership and ensure these residents aren't displaced due to land speculation and gentrification.
- Protecting homeowners from market downturns by preventing them from becoming overextended (foreclosure rates for CLTs have been as much as 90% less than conventional home mortgages).
- Promoting community-focused initiatives, including homeownership education programs, commercial development projects, and community greening efforts.