Trust Montana is always looking for new ways to partner with for profit and non-profit builders that want to include permanently affordable lease-restricted units in their projects.
For more information about how CLT-developer partnerships can work, please visit our Developer Partnership page.
Community land trusts are becoming more popular across the country as the affordable housing crisis increases in urgency. Many city governments are adopting policies that help to incentivize or invest in CLT home development.
Municipalities can partner with Trust Montana by 1) donating land, 2) providing subsidy to increase the affordability of a project, 3) identifying prospective project sites and shepherding projects through subdivision, and 4) by creating policies that incentivize builders to develop affordable homes that can be stewarded Trust Montana to ensure their permanent affordability.
Municipalities have the power to increase the allowable density of a project or ease the permitting process in exchange for a builder agreeing to sell homes to a CLT at a subsidized price.
In 2019, Trust Montana and Habitat for Humanity of Gallatin Valley partnered to create the first Habitat for Humanity-community land trust home in the state. Since this partnership, Trust Montana has continued working with Habitat affiliates to bring new permanently affordable homes to the market. We now partner with Helena Area Habitat for Humanity, Habitat for Humanity of Missoula, and Habitat for Humanity of Ravalli County.
The goals of the partnerships we enter into with Habitat affiliates are to 1) increase the length of time Habitat-built homes are affordable, and 2) leverage the resources of both the CLT and the Habitat affiliate in order to serve more people over time.
Click here for more information.
Partners
Trust Montana is a non-profit 501©3 organization and receives private and federal grant funding to support development of new projects and general operations. Trust Montana has a small staff and a statewide board of directors with expertise in housing, finance, and law. We are always happy to accept tax-deductible donations to support our work.
Our work has been supported by the following funders:
- The O. P. and W. E. Edwards Foundation
- The Llewellyn Foundation
- The High Stakes Foundation
- The Catholic Campaign for Human Development
- US Bank
- USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program
- The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust
- Clearwater Credit Union
- Montana Justice Foundation
- Otto Bremer Trust
- The Montana Healthcare Foundation
Partners
Some of our best partnerships are with other non-profits! Trust Montana is not a builder, and we aren’t farmers either – we excel at facilitating the restrictions that are required to preserve the affordability of homes and other properties.
Most development organizations do not want to take on the responsibilities involved with long-term monitoring of affordability restrictions. We take on the job of perpetual stewardship – often accepting land donations from other non-profits that would like to ensure their projects remain affordable in perpetuity.
It’s a win-win: the non-profits get to stretch their subsidy dollars by utilizing our stewardship expertise, and we get to increase our organizational reach by adding more units around the state. Some of our non-profit partners include: Homeword Inc., Habitat for Humanity of Gallatin Valley, Missoula Food Bank and Community Center, and the Red Lodge Area Community Foundation.
Call us to talk about partnering for a more equitable Montana!
