BNCLT Featured in Ujima’s Business Wire

The Boston Neighborhood Community Land Trust was recently the featured “Friend of a Friend” organization of the Ujima Project (Link to the Ujima Project’s Business Wire Februrary 2, 2022 Newsletter)

Here is their article below:

Friend of a Friend: Boston Neighborhood Community Land Trust

The Boston Neighborhood Community Land Trust (BNCLT) is a nonprofit organization focused on fighting community displacement and racial inequity in the Boston neighborhoods of Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan. Through the acquisition and preservation of affordable, community-controlled housing, BNCLT builds neighborhood stability, housing access, and community strength among low- and moderate-income residents who are most at risk of displacement.

Formerly known as the Coalition for Occupied Homes in Foreclosure, BNCLT grew out of the 2008 housing crisis as foreclosures increased in neighborhoods with high percentages of lower income and Black and Latino households.

“There are lots of people who are effectively locked out of our traditional housing market, and these buildings definitely provide that housing,” BNCLT Executive Director Meredith Levy reflected late last year.

In our Friend of a Friend piece on Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, we uplifted the value of community land trusts (CLTs) as a way to value land as a shared resource of the community, promoting communal rather than individual wealth-building. BNCLT employs a similar model by purchasing occupied properties as a means to prevent families from being displaced, in response to foreclosure or during periods of gentrification. The organization also works with City Life / Vida Urbana, Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, the City of Boston Department of Neighborhood Development, realtors, and other community members to identify potential properties for acquisition with permanent ground lease and terms for affordability.

After their acquisition of a property, BNCLT residents pay rents that remain at affordable rates, just around 30% of income. No longer cost-burdened, BNCLT residents can now spend more money on food, professional development, and recreation. This cost savings compounds over time. In fact, a recent assessment by the Tufts Urban and Environmental department estimates that with BNCLT’s current growth trajectory, “the organization will save their collective residents a minimum of $6.5 million over the next ten years.”

The residents of BNCLT have a strong role in the organization’s governance, as shown by BNCLT’s recent effort to find a new property management company for their portfolio of homes. Residents created a comprehensive list of selection criteria for inclusion in an RFP, and even took part in the interview process.

BNCLT resident, Josefina Luna said, “By working with an organized community where everyone can speak and express their view, it gives the Property Management Company a better vision of what the community needs, and a clear idea of priorities for the whole community.”

With their recent acquisition of 6 Humphreys Place in Uphams Corner, BNCLT continues to secure affordable housing for residents across the city. As Levy says, “It’s about community benefit. We want to make sure that we are creating a new haven for people to be able to live in forever if they want.”

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BNCLT was voted a Business We Love in 2019 by Ujima Voting Members, and is included in our Dorchester Investment Plan.