Common Roots Housing Trust is built on a foundation of community-based research, organizing, and advocacy

In 2018, Community Council convened residents from around the region—Columbia and Walla Walla counties and the Milton-Freewater area—and asked them to identify the most pressing issue facing the community. Based on a series of in-depth conversations and research, the committee determined that affordable housing stood out as the best fit for a Community Council study.

Over 40 people from different sectors of the community participated in the Affordable Housing Study Committee, which asked the question, “How can we meet the need for safe and affordable housing in our region?” During the nine-month study process, this committee heard from a wide variety of speakers, including housing developers, mortgage lenders, city planners, social service providers, and community members struggling to find homes they could afford. Based on what they had learned together, the study committee generated findings, derived conclusions, and crafted recommendations on how to meet the need for safe and affordable housing in our region. One key recommendation to make homes more affordable and accessible over the long-term was the creation of community land trust (CLT).

In the spring of 2019, the Walla Walla County Council on Housing approved the formation of a volunteer CLT Task Force “to assist the Council on Housing in the exploration, planning and formation of a Community Land Trust in the Walla Walla Valley.” CLT Task Force members met and learned from the experiences of a number of CLTs in Washington State. In the fall of 2019, the task force produced a short report which summarized what they learned and recommended the establishment of a CLT in the region. The Walla Walla County Council on Housing subsequently included a recommendation for the creation of a CLT in its 5-Year Housing Plan.

At the same time, Community Council began convening volunteers to advocate for the Affordable Housing Study recommendations. Community Council’s Affordable Housing Implementation Task Force members combined forces with the Walla Walla County CLT Task Force to establish a community land trust for permanently affordable homes. Blue Mountain Action Council (BMAC) agreed to be the fiscal sponsor for the initiative, while Community Council supported the volunteers in their work to establish the CLT. In summer 2020, the CLT initiative received its first seed funding from several local grants. Working together, volunteers then decided to name the CLT Common Roots Housing Trust, reflecting their belief that a community land trust is a shared, long-term investment in strengthening our community. In spring 2021, they elected the organization’s founding board of directors.

Since their election, the founding board of directors has focused on building the organization’s foundations. In addition to fundraising, they have created the organization’s bylaws, policies, resale formula, ground lease, 3-year strategic plan, and 5-year business plan with the assistance of Community Council and consultants from the Northwest Cooperative Development Center, the Nonprofit Development Center, OPAL Community Land Trust, and Travertine Strategies. In March 2022, Common Roots was officially incorporated in Washington State. From 2022 to 2023, Common Roots held outreach meetings in College Place, Waitsburg, and Milton-Freewater with people who earn low incomes and are interested in permanently affordable homeownership opportunities. Common Roots received federal nonprofit status in January 2023 and is now able to acquire land on which it will develop permanently affordable homes.