Tony's Takes, Top Story, Program Highlights, Member Highlights ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Dear Friends,

Each new year comes with its own unique set of challenges, although 2025 has already set a new standard for both domestic and global chaos. Like all of you, I am reminded each day that “sometimes the world we have is not the world we want.” In the months since taking office, the President has moved forward with a slew of new executive orders, funding freezes, potentially devastating trade tariffs, and crippling cuts to staff and programs at numerous federal agencies, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This has left entire nations, states, millions of vulnerable families, federal agency staffers, and numerous nonprofits, including the affordable housing sector, throughout the country and across the world in an increasingly precarious and unsustainable position.

I won’t sugarcoat it: these are difficult and dangerous times for many, and it can be easy to lose hope. But history has proven multiple times that even in the darkest moments, new progressive ideas and strategies emerge and people survive to chart a way forward, eventually rallying sufficient public will to meet the moment and enacting change to strengthen communities and improve democracy. I refuse to surrender to complete despair and encourage you all to do the same.

Even amid the rising anxiety and daily uncertainty that we are forced to confront, new opportunities to meet our goals are possible, and we must be both patient and prepared to embrace different approaches to getting the job done. To address an increasingly adversarial political climate, expanding access to housing with lasting affordability must include even further deepening our connections and partnerships with philanthropy, state and local governments, and grassroots community organizing groups.

We must also continue to cultivate bipartisan support among federal lawmakers by sharing relevant stories of the work required to support their constituents. One excellent opportunity to connect and advocate with federal lawmakers will come at our national conference from May 27–29, when attendees will be able to visit Capitol Hill and discuss accomplishments, struggles, and the critical need for resources with key Senate and House offices. Click here to learn more, and please register today to secure your seat while space is still available.

Despite a current political landscape that clearly threatens our progress in addressing the nation’s housing affordability crisis, Grounded Solutions' national network of members is working in partnership to strengthen communities. When we foster connections and share best practices, it helps us all work more effectively. I thank the members who have renewed their membership this year and welcome our many new members. If you or your organization isn’t a current member, I invite you to join us. Learn more about the membership program and encourage other essential partners you work with to get involved here.

During Terner Labs and National League of Cities' recent summit, The Housing Moment: Innovations for a Better Future, I had the opportunity to join a panel discussion about equity and wealth creation and shed light on our network's continuing focus on increasing scale and impact. It’s through events like this and others that we will continue reaching new audiences to increase support for our network, motivating people to take action both within their communities and on a larger scale, and further positioning Grounded Solutions and our members as a critical part of the effort to navigate and eventually recover from what will be extremely hard times ahead.

In the spirit of daylight-saving time, let’s “spring forward” on the long and at times uncertain path toward achieving the outcome we continue to believe in: a society with ample affordable housing opportunities in strong communities where families can thrive and build wealth for generations to come. Take care, and I look forward to hopefully seeing many of you at our upcoming conference!

Durham Community Land Trustees (DCLT) was featured in a March 14 episode of ncIMPACT on PBS North Carolina focusing on the impact of affordable housing initiatives statewide. DCLT Executive Director, Sherry Taylor, was interviewed along with DCLT home renter Bertha Bradley and DCLT homeowner Sabrina Irizarry. Their compelling stories helped shed light on the challenges faced by both those trying to create permanently affordable housing and those trying to obtain it. Watch here.

Maggie Walker Community Land Trust Director of Homeownership, Candice Turner, joined other experts on the Next City podcast to discuss solutions for addressing the housing crisis—beyond building more units. “We want to make sure that we are offering opportunities that don’t allow people to recycle back through the system. The CLT is one solution to that in the sense that the home can be passed down as a legacy asset,” Turner said during the March 6 episode. Listen here.

Interboro Community Land Trust recently secured $1.4 million with the help of House Democratic Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08). This funding will help build and rehabilitate multi-family buildings and ultimately support the development of up to 100 permanently affordable housing units, according to a February 19 press release issued by Rep. Jeffries’ office. “We’re very grateful for Rep. Jeffries’ unwavering commitment to funding crucial community projects such as those in Interboro’s pipeline,” said Interboro CLT Director John Edward Dallas in the release. Read more here.

On March 6, Kulshan Community Land Trust (KulshanCLT) broke ground on a development in Bellingham, WA, with 18 permanently affordable homes conveniently located near schools and bus routes. There are currently 142 homes in KulshanCLT’s portfolio and more than 70 families on the waiting list. The new 18-home LaFreniere Court development is slated to begin welcoming its group of low- and moderate-income households by December. Learn more here.

This year, Virginia Housing launched a new program called the Capacity Building Implementation Grant Program, which offers housing-focused partners up to $250,000 to carry out the goals laid out in their strategic plans. This is big news as previous grants were capped at $5,000 and $25,000. The new Capacity Building Implementation Grant builds on the existing Capacity Building grants to fund larger, more complex projects and offers opportunities for organizations in the state to get the funding needed to support their work.

In Q1 of this year, voters in the City of Seattle approved a ballot initiative that will fund the Seattle Social Housing Developer with revenues from a new payroll tax. This will ensure the continued financial support of the agency — as it previously did not have a dedicated funding source — and further support its ability to provide affordable housing to the community. Learn more here.

The City of Cambridge, Mass.’s Inclusionary Housing provisions of the Zoning Ordinance require a monetary contribution when there is remaining inclusionary housing floor area that is too small to comprise a full housing unit. The city just voted to approve an increase to this monetary contribution amount from $450 per square foot to $534 per square foot. This will increase the pool of funds available to the city to advance other affordable housing initiatives. Learn more here.

Local and National Policy Update

Our Vice President of Housing Policy, Doug Ryan, was selected as a Featured Innovator in the Valuing Homes in Black Communities Challenge from Economic Architecture and the Brookings Institution. As a Featured Innovator, Doug joins a group of individuals and organizations who are driving meaningful change and promoting racial equity in the housing market. Doug and other Featured Innovators spoke about their work to advance affordable housing during a Feb. 25 panel event at the Brookings Institution. You can watch a recording here.

In Case You Missed It: Grounded Solutions released its federal, state, and local policy priorities for 2025 at the beginning of the quarter, providing an overview of what the organization will advocate for, as well as steps it will take to expand housing with lasting affordability and help curb the ongoing housing crisis nationwide. Read the press release here.

Innovative Finance

Alex Cabral, our Senior Principal of Innovative Finance, is featured in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's "From Hope to Home" documentary series premiering in April, which is Fair Housing Month. The series, produced by People’s Television, highlights how housing stability, quality, and affordability directly impact health outcomes while showcasing community-driven solutions that are making a difference across America. Click here to register for a virtual screening of the series, followed by a panel discussion.

In late 2024, our Homes for the Future (HFTF) initiative and five other nonprofit organizations jointly acquired a portfolio of 283 single-family rental homes in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region. Now HFTF is leading efforts to transition these homes into the portfolios of local shared equity housing organizations, ensuring that they remain affordable for generations to come. Read the press release.

HFTF has been named a 2025 Ivory Prize Top 25 Finalist. The Ivory Prize recognizes ambitious and feasible solutions to housing affordability, awarding a total of $300,000 to winners in three categories: Construction & Design, Finance, and Policy & Regulatory Reform. Read the press release to learn more.

The Innovative Finance team just released an animated video explaining the mechanism behind HFTF and how it will help make homeownership more affordable so more families can build stability and generational wealth. Click here to watch it on YouTube.

Technical Assistance

Throughout the past quarter, Technical Assistance Principal, Jason Webb, traveled to Baltimore to support Grounded Solutions’ client the Affordable Housing Trust Fund of Baltimore. As part of that work, Jason provided training to staff and community groups, and created two new CLTs that will launch by the end of this year, becoming part of the network of the city’s existing CLTs that make up SHARE Baltimore. The Affordable Housing Trust Fund has prioritized CLTs for funding projects supporting residents at 30% to 50% of the local AMI. 

Army veteran James Watson was recently able to purchase his first home, a three-bedroom, ranch-style house in southeast Raleigh, NC, with the help of our member organization, Raleigh Area Land Trust. Read the March 21 NC Newsline article here.

Our Local Policy Principal, Colby Sledge, recently spoke with The Daily Herald about proposed strategies for addressing the housing supply mismatch in DuPage County, IL. The article, published March 16, shines a light on how local governments and organizations are working to expand housing opportunities.

The Oregonian newspaper interviewed Grounded Solutions CEO, Tony Pickett, for a February 2 article in which he highlighted how the CLT model differs—in many beneficial ways—from other forms of affordable housing and helps facilitate economic mobility.

Director of Technical Assistance, James Yelen, and Affordable Housing Principal, Jerusha Daniels, published a blog post on January 20 highlighting key takeaways from a Chicago convening during which experts discussed the power of public land in creating affordable, equitable housing.

Our Vice President of Housing Policy, Doug Ryan, is quoted extensively in Shelterforce’s January 17 article about how housing and community development advocates are navigating the housing landscape in a second Trump administration.

Technical Assistance Principal, Jason Webb, spoke in depth with Tax Credit Advisor for a January 1 article about how community land trusts leverage ground leasing to provide high-quality housing that remains affordable for generations.

Sign up for the Homes for the Future Newsletter to learn more about our Innovative Finance team’s exciting efforts to scale housing with lasting affordability. Sign up here.

We’re hiring a Director of Operations and a Director of Finance! Click here to learn more and help spread the word about these two positions.

Register today for our 2025 conference!

Our upcoming Policy. Practice. Power. Conference from May 27-29, 2025, in Washington, D.C., will be an excellent opportunity to network with other housing practitioners, offer and receive support, exchange insights, and explore housing solutions that ensure lasting affordability. Remember, March 31 is the last day to secure your spot at our early bird rate so click below to register now. 

As always, network members receive the best rates on registration, among other benefits. Interested in becoming a member? Start your application or contact [email protected] for more information. 

We are thankful to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Melville Charitable Trust, Land Home Financial Services, Gary Community Ventures, Forsyth Street Advisors, and Royal Bank of Canada for their support in making this conference possible. If you’re interested in becoming a conference sponsor, click here to learn more.  

Where we live matters.

We bring together an extensive network of partners and member practitioners from local communities who have a deep understanding of best practices in community land trusts, shared equity housing, local housing policies such as inclusionary zoning, and more.

At Grounded Solutions Network, we know what policies and strategies work to build and preserve housing opportunities, and we help communities use them.