The Woodland Community Land Trust operates in an impoverished Appalachian community in northeastern Tennessee, where access to land and political and economic power has been tightly controlled by a few major extractive companies. For almost forty years, Woodland and its sister organizations, Woodland Community Development Corporation and Clearfork Community Institute, have acquired 450 acres of land and become involved in housing construction, permaculture, small business development, and education, attempting to accumulate sufficient land and skills to build a sustainable community.
Equity Trust first made a loan to Woodland CLT back in 1997 to help purchase 164 acres of strip-mined land that Woodland wanted to save from further destruction. Since then several more loans have been made, enabling Woodland to purchase a building to house its office and community center; to secure land for housing, agriculture, and aquaculture purposes; and to acquire homes for the CLT.