Friday: Workshop on Community Land Trusts & Community Financing May 15th at Meg Perry Center

[jonah fertig]

Workshop on Community Land Trusts &
Community Financing
Friday May 15th 5:30-8:30pm
at the Meg Perry Center, 644 Congress St. Portland, ME
light soup and bread dinner provided by Local Sprouts Cooperative at the beginning of the workshop
Free, Donations Accepted

On May 15th, Local Sprouts Cooperative & the Community Building Collaborative will host a workshop on starting Community Land Trusts (CLT) and developing Community Financing models to start land trusts, cooperative or other community enterprises. 

The National Community Land Trusts Network offers this definition of CLTs: "A community land trust (CLT) is a private non-profit community organization that safeguards land in order to provide affordable housing opportunities. CLTs buy and hold land permanently, preventing market factors from causing prices to rise. CLTs build and sell affordably-priced homes to families with limited incomes— the CLT keeps the price of homes affordable by separating the price of the house from the cost of the land. The goal of CLTs is to balance the needs of homeowners to build equity and gain stability in their lives with the needs of the community to preserve affordable home ownership opportunities for future generations." (www.cltnetwork.org)

Workshop topics will include:
What is a Community Land Trust?
Examples of Community Land Trusts in Maine and around the Country
How to start a Community Land Trust
How to develop a Community Financing Program

Presenters:
 Katie Boverman and Ethan Miller from the JED Collective in Greene.  They recently started a 35 acre Community Land Trust that was financed solely through small loans from people across Maine.  Their CLT provides a home to a cooperative farm, a cooperative house and organizing center (the JED Collective) and is providing space for people to build affordable sustainable homes. 

Grace Braley was the director of the Residents for Equitable and Affordable Permanent Shelter Community Land Trusts in Yonkers, New York.  She lives in Portland is passionate about creating a community land trust in Portland.  She is a board member of Peace Action Maine and recently served on the CDBG Allocations Committee.   

Sponsored by Local Sprouts Cooperative & the Community Building Collaborative

For more information contact:
Jonah Fertig
615-9970
jo...@localsproutscooperative.com
www.localsproutscooperative.com

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Local Sprouts Cooperative
www.localsproutscooperative.com
Meg Perry Center
www.megperrycenter.com