About Headwaters
Headwaters formed as a community land trust (CLT) to address the need for affordable housing in its service area.
CLTs are community-owned nonprofit organizations that own, develop and steward land for the common good in their communities.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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A Community Land Trust (CLT) is a nonprofit that acquires and stewards land for long-term community benefit, creating permanently affordable homes and other community assets.
In the shared-equity homeownership model, the CLT owns the land while homeowners own their homes through a long-term ground lease. This keeps the cost of land out of the purchase price and helps ensure affordability for future generations.
CLT land can also support rental, cooperative, and other housing models, with the trust providing long-term stewardship of the land.
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Yes. Homeowners build equity through mortgage payments and a share of the home's appreciation, while a resale formula keeps the home affordable for the next buyer.
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No. Many CLTs also steward farmland, forests, commercial buildings, community spaces, and other properties that meet local needs.
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Community Land Trusts exist to serve their communities.
Community Land Trusts are governed by local boards that include residents, community members, and other stakeholders, ensuring decisions are made by and for the community.
Board directors are elected by the CLTs membership. Learn more →
Headwaters’ Mission
To care for our neighbors and strengthen our communities by creating permanently affordable homes and access to community-owned land.
HEADWATERS’ VALUES
Affordability | We seek long-term solutions that work for everyday people.
Trust | We build relationships grounded in honesty, transparency, and follow-through
Stewardship | We care for what we hold, for the future.
Empowerment | We create conditions for shared decision-making.
Resilience | We strive to build communities that last.
Board of Directors
Linda Ramsdell, President
Linda founded The Galaxy Bookshop in Hardwick, VT in 1988 and for decades, served on boards across the state. Today she works as a bookkeeper for local businesses. Linda first became interested in local housing solutions in 2019, while serving on the Craftsbury Planning Commission.
Bill Berman, Vice President
For 20 years, Bill - a clinical law professor emeritus - and his students represented people in housing cases who could not afford a lawyer. Bill founded a program dedicated to fair housing testing, education, outreach and research. A Greensboro resident, Bill is an advisor to Greensboro Land Trust.
Rick Morrill, Treasurer
Rick is a licensed forester consulting in northern Vermont with his wife and father-in-law. He previously served as the Baxter State Park Resource Manager and on the Board of the Forest Stewards Guild. Rick advocates the interconnected goals of housing and conservation.
Leslie Taylor, Secretary
Leslie fell in love with the people of rural Vermont as a young adult in West Fairlee, working in the schools, on a dairy farm, and as town clerk. Later she became the first staff member of Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust. In 2018, she found her forever home in Craftsbury, and a purpose worth devoting herself to in the creation of Headwaters,
Bill Day, Director
Bill worked variously as a copyeditor, production assistant, designer, acquisitions editor, marketer, and middle manager in scholarly and professional book publishing in Philadelphia and New York, followed by fifteen years as communications and development lead for an educational nonprofit in the New York City suburbs. Bill was raised in southern Vermont and has lived in Craftsbury since 2023.
Meryl Friets, Director
With a degree in sustainable agriculture education from Sterling College, Meryl helps bridge the gap between farmers and markets as the Farm Connex Logistics Manager at the Center for an Agricultural Economy in Hardwick. She’s spent years working diverse farms, forming a holistic view of how agriculture shapes our communities.
Michael Reddy, Director
Mike is a resident board member at Wheelock Mountain Farm, a popular nonprofit education center, land trust, and intentional community. In his role at KURRVE, Mike repairs and rebuilds housing stock devastated by flooding. He organizes with Rural Vermont and Northeast Kingdom Organizing. Mike is passionate about cooperative economics, collective empowerment, and communal abundance,
If you or someone you know is interested in joining the board, you can make a nomination.