Headwaters Community Trust formed in direct response to the housing needs identified by economically burdened residents of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom.

IN MARCH OF 2023, the East Craftsbury (VT) Presbyterian Church launched a monthly Community Housing Forum to explore, through open and constructive public discussions, ways to address the lack of affordable housing in the area. In May, a local cost-burdened renter presented housing models based on shared equity and perpetual affordability.

Inspired by this presentation, a group formed to study shared-equity housing models. They determined that a Community Land Trust (CLT) was the best available template for community-led development of permanently affordable housing. CLT land is held in trust, while the housing on that land is owned by those who live in it. The purchaser of a CLT home signs a long-term, low-cost lease on the underlying land; the lease includes a resale formula that limits the profit on any future sale. This guarantees that CLT homes remain affordable in perpetuity.

FIRST STEPS — Determined to apply the CLT model to their four-town area in northeastern Vermont, members of the study group founded Headwaters Community Trust (HCT). Headwaters was incorporated in the state of Vermont in June 2024, and granted 501(c)(3) nonprofit status by the IRS that December.

TAKING SHAPE — HCT’s current organizing phase is led by an all-volunteer board whose members have experience in business management, forestry, farming, construction, accounting, community organizing, public health, law, education, program building, public relations, and nonprofit communications and development. The board includes members from each town in its service area, members who are cost-burdened renters, members who also serve on the board of a local Conservation Land Trust, and a member who lives in cooperative housing on shared land.