Land trusts offer an innovative way to help the middle class afford a home

By KAY DERVISHI of The Chronicle of Philanthropy
Chronicle of Philanthropy

Makeisha Robey grew up in a three-bedroom house and always wanted to provide the same for her children. But on a preschool teacher’s salary in Atlanta, that dream was out of reach. That changed after Robey learned about the Atlanta Land Trust at a neighborhood association meeting. The community land trust, a nonprofit that helps people purchase affordable homes, offered an opportunity for her to buy a home at a below-market rate. She purchased her home for about $102,000 three years ago. The median price of a house in Atlanta in January 2020 was $287,500. As homeownership is increasingly out of reach for many Americans, nonprofit community land trusts, funded by foundations, government funds, financial institutions, and individual donations, have become a popular way to help.