Year-End Story #1
Puzzle created at the 2023 BNCLT Annual Meeting. Participants each wrote a goal they had for BNCLT and the community in the year ahead. At the end of the meeting we put the pieces together to create the BNCLT puzzle! Click DONATE to see the full-sized photo.
As the year comes to an end, we invite you to invest in BNCLT’s future by making an end of year donation. We have an ambitious path ahead, and we couldn’t appreciate more the community support that helps make this all happen.
When we transformed into Boston Neighborhood Community Land Trust in 2019, we envisioned the years ahead as building up the organization through acquiring new homes, growing our staff, creating community spaces and gardens — things that emerge from the ground-up. We have now come to understand that so much of our work is building from the ground-down to what’s below the surface. True systems change needs to tackle the invisible tangle of structures — infrastructural and social — that have created decades of racial disparities. Piece by piece, we need to reassemble this infrastructural and social puzzle to create the foundation that will sustain our community land trust model for generations.
Your support gives us the resources to transform the invisible but essential “underground” structural barriers. We hope you will make a contribution today.
And this year, donors to BNCLT can make their funds go twice as far! Donations of at least $1,000 are eligible for a 50% rebate back from the Commonwealth, using our Community Investment Tax Credits (CITC). Donate $1,000, get $500 back at tax time. It’s that easy.
Year-End Story #1: Stable Housing and Vacant Lot Activation on Park Street
“Living in the BNCLT community has been wonderful! I feel connected to the broader community, and not so alone. I am happy that I am able to have stable housing for me and my daughter.”
Nevika and her daughter have made their home with BNCLT for the past several years. They participate in gardening and events at our activated Park Street lot, just down the street from where they live. Nevika joins fellow residents at our monthly resident meetings, and brings her leadership to BNCLT events.
What's Coming Up at BNCLT, with the Support of Our Donors!
Your gift will have tremendous impact. We have grown our team to 4 full time staff members this year, plus a devoted team of consultants and contractors needed to accomplish the following:
Climate Forward Housing: This winter we will complete the energy retrofit of 14 Leroy, resulting in a 100% fossil free, energy efficient building where savings go directly into the pockets of our residents.
Building our Membership Base: This year, BNCLT officially became a membership organization! We will invite all of our supporters to enroll as members this year.
Homeownership and Savings Pathways: As BNCLT considers adding homeownership units to our mix of rental properties, we are introducing new opportunities for community members to build their savings, and for some, to consider pathways to ownership.
Activating Community Land: We will continue to connect CLT residents and neighbors through the activation of public lots and our own green spaces next to our buildings.
Public Policy: BNCLT will continue to help lead organizing campaigns to support the Tenants Opportunity to Purchase Act; the Small Properties Acquisition Pilot; and other needed housing policies and programs.
Transforming our Property Management System: With our resident leaders and new property management partners, we are designing a new system that is aligned with our community land trust model, which we will launch early this spring.
We are excited to be putting the infrastructural and social puzzle together to strengthen our long-term stability and to ensure that BNCLT’s deeply affordable homes are sustainable for our community. Your support fosters this mission that you care so much about and propels us all forward!