Yves here. As homelessness is a growing problem across the US due to the seemingly unstoppable rise in housing prices over wage increases, this Montana program is a welcome development. Even if this initiative would be difficult to replicate elsewhere, it shows that new ways of home ownership can reduce the squeeze on house prices.
That said, there are exceptions to this type of program in Manhattan. I can’t remember the name, but it’s just over 23rd Street, west of 8th Avenue. Buyers make a down payment of 10% of the current price and the sale price, as in the Montana system, is capped. There is a ten-year waiting list for these units.
Damon Orion is a writer, journalist, musician, artist, and teacher in Santa Cruz, California. His work has appeared in Revolver, Guitar World, Spirituality + Health, Classic Rock, High Times, and other publications. Read more about his work at DamonOrion.com. Produced by Local Peace Economy
In 1969, a group of civil rights activists in Southwest Georgia helped dispossessed black sharecroppers to register to vote. According to the Washington, DC-based non-profit group the Brookings Institution, these activists, who form the group New Communities Inc., “help[ed] Black farmers are overcoming the forces that have prevented them from owning land, such as factory farming, racial discrimination and moneylending.
This grassroots organization, “founded as a collective farm,” became America’s first public foundation to trust the land.
Today, the Community Land Trust (CLT) program continues to flourish around the world. In July 2024, WorldCLTDay.org noted, “Over the past 50+ years, the CLT movement has facilitated the establishment of more than 600 community trusts around the world.”
In the CLT model, low-income individuals and families purchase homes or lots that are often owned by non-profit businesses. To facilitate affordable home ownership in perpetuity, buyers agree to a reasonable resale value for subsequent buyers.
The story of Montana’s first public trust, the North Missoula Community Development Corporation (NMCDC), began in 1992. The founding president, Bob Oaks, had bought a home in Northside Missoula with his wife four years earlier. “I was a furniture fitter, and my wife was a medical writer,” he recalls. “There is no way that two people earn the same income [to ours] I can buy a house here today.”
At the time, several railroad tracks blocked Oaks workers from accessing services in downtown Missoula. As she tried to rally her neighbors to support the installation of a crosswalk, she found again and again that “people just weren’t invested in the area,” according to Brittany Palmer, executive director of the NMCDC. “They saw it as a stepping stone to get to another place. People didn’t enjoy living in the area, calling it home, and making it better.”
This was the beginning of Oaks’ interest in real estate. He began providing low-payment assistance to families in need, thinking that if more Northside residents became homeowners, interest in neighborhood development would increase.
However, Palmer notes that “like all down payment assistance programs that aren’t coupled with some kind of public land trust or sales restriction, that investment helps that one household, but then it’s a subsidy that you worked hard to get and give to the community. missing members [when] they sell houses in the normal market.” After seeing this happen several times, Oaks adopted the CLT model.
In 1996, NMCDC became an incorporated non-profit organization. That same year, he launched the North Missoula Housing Partnership, which helped nearly 35 households gain home ownership on the Northside and Westside. The efforts of this organization have expanded throughout the city and have helped more than 110 families to have homes.
Over the years, NMCDC has also empowered the local community and helped ensure greater equity in the area. “With the help of our full-time community organizer on staff, we support Northside and Westside neighbors in developing their skills as professional leaders, building strong relationships and community strengths, and making structural changes and increasing equity in our neighborhoods,” it said. NMCDC website.
Supporting Racial Equality
Black and indigenous communities and other people of color have experienced displacement and poverty throughout American history. They are still at high risk of housing instability even today—a situation that has been exacerbated by COVID-19.
“Low wages, and the discrimination that has caused them to own homes and build wealth, means that people of color are more likely to rent and are more likely to struggle. [to afford] for rent,” notes the Opportunity Starts at Home campaign.
The National Association of Home Builders, while referring to data from the Census Bureau, states that “home ownership in the US varies widely by race and ethnicity. In the fourth quarter of 2023, the homeownership rate among non-Hispanic White Americans was 73.8%, followed by Asian Americans (63 percent), Hispanic Americans (49.8 percent), and Black Americans ( 45.9).
Many of these communities have also been affected by “reinstatement”: the denial of loans or insurance to residents of areas with large populations of Blacks and other ethnic groups.
These housing issues have a major impact on the public health and well-being of people from minority communities. “Our work has revealed that the quality of land and locality is the result of local and international policies that purposefully segregated and discriminated against communities and continue to have a significant impact on the health and well-being of marginalized communities today. That’s why we have to deal with the physical, mental and social factors, and the history of housing in public health interventions,” explains Dr. Rasheeda Taliaferro Monroe from WakeMed Hospital Pediatrician in a 2024 Forbes interview.
CLTs can address this inequality and empower people from minority and disadvantaged communities to become homeowners. The social justice organization Bay Area Community Land Trust notes that the plan promotes racial equity by “prioritizing housing in quality neighborhoods.”
In addition to helping provide housing in neighborhoods of color, NMCDC advocates for a progressive zoning code through a program called ProHousing Missoula. “The history of segregation in this country is racist and unique,” Palmer noted. “Traditional working-class neighborhoods in Missoula are seeing higher rates of redevelopment than affluent neighborhoods. We hope to see some of these improvements spread gently and evenly throughout Missoula, so we’re building more support and educating residents about how zoning affects their daily lives and why it’s important to have a balanced zoning code. “
The Power of Numbers
In 2023, NMCDC is building Montana’s first CLT-based limited-equity co-op: an eight-unit, three-family multifamily development called Wolf Avenue Collective. Later that year, it completed work on the River Rocks Cooperative, which included 14 units of various types—duplexes, mobile homes, and single-family homes—on three adjacent parcels.
In an equity housing cooperative, the shareholders buy the houses as a group. “The residents own the share, the housing co-op owns the property, and the NMCDC holds the land in trust,” Palmer explained.
Residents of these communities receive support and technical assistance from NMCDC in looking after the maintenance and management of their properties. “We, along with the residents, ensure that their revenue budget and ongoing operating budget support the costs associated with building management, maintenance, and [other] financial development,” Palmer explained. “Residents gain control over when and what repairs are made, who they hire to manage and maintain the property, and when and if their rent will go up, among other things.”
Palmer talks about a resident of the River Rocks Cooperative named Amanda who was initially hesitant to join the group. His attitude changed as the organization guided him through the finances, property appraisals, and inspection details of each home.
“As we go through the process, people are able to feel more excited as they begin to understand the different strengths and how the funding fits together,” Palmer said.
Amanda eventually became president of the co-op board. “He was handing out flyers and knocking on neighbors’ doors,” Palmer recalled. “He was a great promoter of this program. Now he is passing on the report to other communities that we may identify so that they can hear about someone who has gone through this program.”
Community Service
NMCDC’s humanitarian efforts extend beyond housing. For example, in 2006, the organization purchased 1.5 acres of land in Westside Missoula, where it built the Burns Street Community Center. In addition to being a center for special events and community outreach, the center is home to establishments such as Burns Street Bistro, Western-Montana Growers Cooperative, and Plant Perks Commissary Kitchen. A community center therefore increases access to food in neighborhoods that have limited food shopping options within walking distance.
NMCDC has also been instrumental in creating Missoula landmarks such as the Northside Pedestrian Bridge, California Street Bridge, and Westside Park. Other projects the group has developed or co-developed are the Missoula Urban Demonstration Project’s tool library and programs such as the Kids Clubhouse and the Missoula Outdoor Cinema.
Affordable housing, however, remains at the forefront of this movement. “It feels good to be slowly, gradually reducing housing and changing people’s ideas about what housing can be used for,” Palmer said. “I like to think of housing as not only a human right but also a social good. I think most communities can do it [benefit from] having their houses preserved and protected is a good community in the same way that hiking can be considered a good community.”
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