READ ABOUT WHY FUNDERS ARE INVESTING IN CLTs
“The permanent affordability feature of the CLT is very appealing to us, more so than other nonprofit approaches that are only affordable to the first family going in,”.
-Erik Torch of the Northland Foundation
“It strikes me that CLTs could be one of the big solutions to the challenges facing communities now, especially the challenge of foreclosures. In my ideal world a CLT will ultimately control a large number of the vacant and abandoned homes, creating a whole new layer in the housing market.”
-Beadsie Woo of the Annie E. Casey Foundation
“Our work seeks to stabilize and strengthen communities and provide long-term housing options and other opportunities”.
-Angela Brown of the Hyams Foundation
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Since our founding in 2011, with little funding, ECLT has made great progress.
1. Helped over 1,000 low- to moderate-income people to learn financial literacy and homeowner readiness.
2. Gained four banks as CLT mortgage lenders.
3. Acquired six townhomes in Montclair under the traditional community land trust model in partnership with HOMECorp.
4. Created three affordable rentals, one, was used for two years as a domestic violence "safe house" rental until we were able to cultivate the renter to build in confidence, career, and financial literacy success. She grew to be able to afford a market rate apartment her and her son still live in.
5. Leveraged the affordable housing property tax laws and taught them to municipal tax assessors to successfully receive abatements of permanent affordable homes making them more attainable for LMI people.
6. Acquired three-two family homes in Bloomfield and changed the net worth of families ranging from 30% to 70% AMI by making them homeowners and landlords of newly rehabbed properties.
7. Acquired a single family home in Bloomfield with no subsidy and created a permanently affordable traditional CLT home purchased by a moderate income person.
8. Provide post-purchase stewardship to ECLT homeowners.
9. Provided post-purchase stewardship and classes to the Township of Montclair for 47 affordable units.
10. Under the leadership of the National Housing Institute, the ECLT joined four other organizations to facilitate the acquisition of the building our current offices are in to save it for community use.
11. In 2013, by way of subsidy provided by NJ Department of Community Affairs Neighborhood Enhancement Program, with our partner Community Asset Preservation Corporation, we redeveloped 3 vacant and abandoned two-family homes in Bloomfield.
12. In 2013, assisted HomeCorp to secure $400,000.00 in affordable housing subsidy from the New Jersey State Department of Community Affairs to build 6 condos from the ground up in Montclair and helped get the project approved by the Township Planning Board. All 6 condos will be on Community Land Trust Land and therefore permanently affordable.
Mission: To strengthen communities by providing permanently affordable housing and financial empowerment opportunities for working families and individuals throughout Essex County.
Vision: We envision all of Essex County, New Jersey as a community of opportunity where regardless of income, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status people have a choice to live where they desire by having access to high quality affordable housing.
Goals: The goals of the ECLT are to provide permanent affordable homeownership opportunities for low-to moderate-income individuals; warn against predatory mortgages; facilitate homeowner and financial success education; diversify neighborhoods in terms of ethnicity and income; increase the length of deed restrictions; and provide on-going stewardship over transformed abandoned homes located on CLT land.