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Community land trusts are growing in Western Massachusetts

Land and housing justice gathering in Deerfield MA, May 2024

In Western Massachusetts, the Equity Trust has joined with Wellspring Cooperative and Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts in an effort to develop a community land trust covering the cities of Springfield and Holyoke. The Lower Valley CLT is actively recruiting community members for the board and to guide its development, and also drafting articles of incorporation and bylaws to submit to the state for official non-profit status.

While this CLT initiative is still in its early phases, it has been collaborating for over a year with others in the Connecticut River Valley, including Valley Community Land Trust, Franklin County Community Land Trust, Amherst Community Land Trust, Willow Permanent Real Estate Cooperative, several housing co-ops, and other allies, to build a regional network for shared equity projects. The network is exploring whether it could provide shared back-office services, model documents, and other initiatives that support the long-term sustainability of community land trusts in the region. A Root Cause Solutions grant from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Division of Community Health Planning and Engagement (DCHPE) to the network, under the fiscal sponsorship Franklin County CLT, recently gave this work an important boost, including the opportunity to work with a consultant from Burlington Associates and to hold a two-day planning retreat in spring 2024.