A community land trust (CLT) is a non-profit organization that acquires, manages, and develops land and property for the purpose of affordable housing.

Land entrusted to a CLT is removed from the real-estate market and becomes community owned, democratically managed by community.

Ownership and control of land is separated from the ownership and control of the buildings on that land. The land is held outside of the market in a trust that is legally bound to preserve the land to benefit the community.

The El Sereno CLT in entrusted to ensure the land it holds is used to benefit the El Sereno community while relating to the land in “stewardship” rather than “ownership” by a community of human and non-human relations in harmony with the land, in perpetuity.

Perpetuity means forever or in more concrete terms, for seven generations, or 120 years, and when the lease is up, the lease is renewable again for another seven generations, and on and on…

Stewardship means being entrusted with the responsibility of care.

The El Sereno CLT prefers to use “stewardship” rather than “ownership” to describe our work, as ownership implies the right to exploit and destroy.

The El Sereno Community Land Trust is guided by staff, general members, and a board of directors.

We are currently in the process of structuring to be governed by community members organized as a consensus-based assembly.

CLTs raise their funds through grants and fundraising efforts.

The El Sereno CLT has acquired some land through the County of Los Angeles, which has recently opened avenues so CLTs can acquire land though campaigns and policy.

Community control is the ability for the community itself to make decisions regarding housing, food, policy, and police.

One notable difference between “private” home ownership and “CLT” home ownership is that a CLT homeowner passes the home’s original affordability on to the next homeowner, keeping housing affordable for the next generations.

The El Sereno CLT works with the horizon of seven generations.

A housing cooperative or “co-op” is a type of residential housing option in which each tenant holds a share of ownership of the residential unit that they live in.

Each month, tenants pay a fee (rent) to cover their share of the expenses for their housing. Expenses can include mortgage payments, property taxes, management fees, maintenance costs, insurance premiums, and contributions to reserve funds.

Cooperatives can organize almost any kind of housing. Examples include high-rise apartment buildings, garden-style apartments, townhouses, single-family homes, and senior housing.

Limited Equity Housing Cooperatives allow for a combination of both private and public funds.

Here is a nice video that describes this process more, as “shared equity homeownership”.

One important benefit of shared ownership is shared decision-making. Shared owernship allows tenants to have a say in the cooperative decision-making process.

Another benefit is affordability. Co-ops reduce the risk of displacement by sharing housing costs with many. Co-ops can be even less expensive than apartments since they operate on an at-costs basis, collecting money from tenants as need to pay surprise expenses.

A great benefit is the elimination of the landlord. With the landlord/tenant power relationship collapsed, cooperatives offer control over one’s living environment and security of tenure not available in rental housing.

An additional benefit is the opportunity to build equity from the building still exists, just not from the land.

The El Sereno Community Land Trust works against the continued commodification of land and works toward stewarding it with a horizon of seven generations.

The commodification of land is the treatment of Mother Earth as a commodity, as an object to be owned, traded, and sold.

The El Sereno CLT relates to the land as stewards rather than owners.

Worker cooperatives are small businesses that are democratically run and owned by its members. In other words, the boss/worker power relationship is collapsed.

When a cooperative is recognized, it can organize in some crucial areas of everyday life, including (1) tackling poverty and creating economic growth; (2) building local expertise and profit; (3) creating dignified jobs; (4) empowering Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), queer, and all communities marginalized and discriminated by the dominant society.

Our membership is mostly comprised of El Sereno residents. We offer special invitations for those living outside of El Sereno who help strengthen our work.

If you grew up in El Sereno, moved away, and still have family here and would love to join, we would definitely consider you for membership.

Thank you for supporting our land trust. Another important way to support our work is through monetary donations to run our general operations. You can donate via our donation portal.

Yes you can. It is a tax-deductible donation that would be a gift for future generations.

To begin the transfer process, please email us at contact@elserenocommunitylandtrust.org.