Making an Impact: Homestead Community Land Trust.
Community Land Trusts are an important tool in creating sustainable and affordable housing.
Using partnerships between all levels of private and public entities, they provide vulnerable communities with access to land and housing that might not be available to them otherwise. Homestead Community Land Trust, one largest community land trusts in the Pacific Northwest, is doing inspiring work to build communities to last in the Seattle area.
HOMESTEAD COMMUNITY LAND TRUST
Since its incorporation in 1992 by low-income residents of the Central District, Homestead has become the largest community land trust (CLT) in Washington, and the only democratically governed CLT out of the seventeen in operation around Seattle. Over three decades of dedication to affordable housing, Homestead has created a portfolio of over two hundred owner-occupied homes. These homes provide over five hundred individuals, 160 of which are children, with stable and affordable housing from Mountlake Terrace to Renton.
Homestead and other CLTs focus on modest-income households, those earning less than 80% of an area’s median income. Their goal is to create inclusive, stable, equitable, and affordable homeownership and thereby strengthen individuals and communities. For instance, housing stability allows individuals to move resources away from expenses such as high rent, relocation costs and commuting. By reducing those expenses Homestead homeowners are ten times less likely to foreclose on a home, which in turn protects local markets from lower vacancy rates, property tax income loss, and blight.
With roots in the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, CLTS have sought to assist people who may have been excluded from homeownership due to social status, race, or income. CLTs such as Homestead help vital members of our society – teachers, mail carriers, grocery clerks, social workers— find stable housing and lay down roots in their communities. These roots encourage civic engagement, foster neighborhood relationships, and help families and communities accrue equity. Homestead supports these communal foundations through various outreach and education initiatives. These include prepurchase counseling, homebuyer readiness education, down payment assistance, and ongoing outreach post-purchase. This focus on Homestead buyer well-being helps empower future generations who might inherit Homestead homes.
PROJECTS IN DEVELOPMENT
Homestead has a number of projects in various stages of progress. A development in Tukwila, Riverton Cascade, is the first CLT project in Tukwila. The development will consist of eighteen homes: eleven income-restricted family homes, two Parkview Services group homes for adults with disabilities, and five homes without income restrictions sold at market prices. The sales of the non-restricted homes will subsidize price reductions for the other homes and ensure their affordability moving forward.
In Seattle, three developments are in progress. Village Gardens, in Leschi, will contain ten townhomes for those making 60%-80% of the area median income. Six more homes will be non-income restricted to subsidize the affordable homes. Two projects in Phinney Ridge, in partnership with a private developer, will each contain nineteen permanently affordable condominiums, multiple non-income restricted homes to subsidize those costs, communal amenities such as sun decks, gardens, and common rooms, as well as spaces for commercial development.
Homestead is committed to a greener future and the homes in development will be crafted with high energy efficiency in mind. Homes and developments will not use fossil fuels for heating where possible and the developments will include solar panels for onsite power generation where they can.
WAYS TO SUPPORT
Homestead lists a variety of ways that individuals can contribute to their vision such as attending events, advocating for affordable housing, and of course volunteering for any number of support programs. For instance, volunteers with expertise that is relevant to first-time buyers can teach classes which help provide tips and education on buying and owning a home. Other ways people can pitch in is through the Homestead Ambassador Program. Ambassadors spread the word in their community and advocate for affordable housing either through word-of-mouth or by hosting a Homestead event at their home where Homestead delegates will give a brief presentation about their work, community impact and how others can get involved. Since Homestead works to transform distressed properties into affordable homes, volunteers can also organize work parties to help Homestead turn a property into a home.
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