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Land trust and home trust get into the housing business - Update on affordable housing efforts
12/5/02 San Juan Island, WA - Join the Home Trust, help affordable housing. The San Juan Community Home Trust is moving forward with its first permanently affordable home ownership project on Carter Avenue. Civil engineering work has been completed and the Town of Friday Harbor is reviewing the drainage plan. “A year from now, we plan to have built six three-bedroom and nine two-bedroom permanently affordable homes,” Director Lovel Pratt said. “Applications for these homes are now being processed. To learn more about affordable home ownership opportunities and/or receive an application packet, call the Home Trust office at 378-5541, e-mail info@hometrust.org, or visit www.hometrust.org. The San Juan Community Home Trust is preparing applications to several funding sources. These funds will pay for land and infrastructure costs, thus making the sale price of these homes affordable. The Home Trust is also inviting residents to become members. State, federal and private foundation funding sources use membership numbers as a means of gauging community support. The more members the Home Trust has, the better its chances of receiving these funds. Land trusts receive building initiative grant
Of People and Land Community Land Trust (OPAL), Lopez Community Land Trust and San Juan Community Home Trust are joining efforts to increase operating efficiencies and enable each organization to increase its housing and economic development activities. “The goal of this consortium is to improve the quality of the services that we provide and to help more islanders in need of housing and economic development opportunities,” said Lisa Byers, executive director of the OPAL Community Land Trust. “Our hope is that we can streamline some of the activities that are
redundant between our organizations, and our challenge will be to
achieve these goals while also staying true to our distinctive island
cultures. |