CRAFTSBURY – The Headwaters Community Trust (HCT) board will begin regular meetings in January to lay out membership, project criteria and partnerships to bring new, perpetually affordable housing opportunities to fruition, according to Rick Morrill of Greensboro, in a Front Porch Forum post. The HCT service area is the headwaters region of the Black, Barton and Lamoille Rivers, comprising the northeastern Vermont towns of Albany, Craftsbury, Glover, Greensboro and adjoining communities.
HCT’s mission is “To invest in social and economic vitality by securing land for affordable homes and other community assets. After 15 months of exploration and learning about the kind of community land trust that would meet the needs for housing identified in our area, Headwaters Community Trust (HCT) is a reality,” wrote Morrill.
Using the Community Land Trust model, Headwaters will acquire and hold in trust land for homes, commercial, agricultural uses and other functions that provide community benefit.
Protected from the speculative real estate market, these properties will form a stock of affordable housing and other community assets that will serve as a durable foundation for civic and economic vitality in our northern Vermont service area.
Because their resale price is regulated by the trust, HCT homes will always be within reach of people of ordinary means. The HCT vision is a future where everyone who takes part in the life of area communities can find a place that meets their needs for a home.
Community members may email questions, thoughts and ideas, to info@headwatersnek.org
For more information, see headwatersnek.org
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.