Georgia CLTs

Incorporated: 2023 
Purpose: To provide stable housing for people at risk of displacement in the gentrifying Atlanta area, and to help them develop agency as tenants and homeowners.
Background: Three organizations– the Housing Justice League, The Guild, and the American Friends Service Committee–came together in 2021 when a local landlord was threatening to evict a woman from the home she’d lived in for 30 years, so that he could remodel and sell her home for profit in a rapidly gentrifying area. When it became clear that there were no pathways to keeping the woman in her home, the Guild purchased a home in the People’s Town neighborhood of Atlanta, where that woman now lives. This was the first home in the People’s Community Land Trust, which is managed by all three organizations. Three years later, the PCLT purchased a second property–a multi-family building with eight units. The organization is continuing to take shape and stabilize. Currently, their efforts are focused on securing enough funding to hire an executive director so that they can increase organizational capacity and expand their operations. They also continue to conduct outreach in the Atlanta area to grow awareness of and support for the CLT. The Housing Justice League has a large base, so the CLT is conducting presentations at HJL’s membership meetings about the community land trust. They’re also  going to be creating a working group of members that can help with activities related to the CLT. The three organizations have also held block parties and teach-ins where they engage community members with the CLT.
Land holdings/Residents: One multi-family building with eight units, currently still seeking residents; one single-family building with a large lot in the backyard, which may be the site for a additional building in the future. 
Eligibility requirements for residents: There are no finalized eligibility requirements, though the CLT intends to give priority to low-income or houseless people. A major requirement for the nascent phase of the CLT is that the potential residents believe in the CLT mission, and are willing to champion it so that the CLT can build the base of supporters they need in order to expand.
Governance structure: Looking to formalize a tripartite board structure within the next six to nine months. Currently, the three organizations are operating as a de-facto board. 
Additional details: 
*In 2024, organizers at the Housing Justice League visited CLTs and housing cooperatives in Boston and San Francisco, and spoke with those involved. The goal was to get a sense of the lessons learned by more established CLTs about creating and operating a CLT. The HJL organizers visited the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, Boston Neighborhood CLT, the East Boston Neighborhood Trust, and Chinatown CLT in Boston; in San Francisco, they visited the San Francisco CLT and the East Bay Permanent Real Estate cooperative. 
*Challenges: A major challenge is organizational capacity, which is why they are focused on hiring an executive director.