Residents at the southern tip of Orleans County are taking the housing crisis into their own hands.
As established organizations pursue housing projects in the region, Northeast Kingdom locals are developing their own initiatives aimed at easing the shortage.
In one of the latest efforts, a group of residents has formed the Headwaters Community Trust with the goal of supporting permanently affordable homes through the community land trust model. The land trust, which received its nonprofit status in December, plans to focus its work in the scenic, rural towns of Craftsbury, Glover, Greensboro and Albany.
“Having watched as the price of land and houses has climbed out of reach for regular folks, I felt there must be a solution, a way to bring access to affordable homes and land back down to ‘Earth,’” said Rick Morrill, a Greensboro resident and a member of the new trust’s board. “The CLT model is the best tool that communities like ours can use to achieve this goal.”
The trust would acquire and maintain ownership of land, selling houses on it at an affordable price. Homeowners, if they decide to sell, would do so per an established resale formula to keep the housing affordable in perpetuity, “protecting it from the speculative real estate market.”
The trust would be governed by both “resident members,” who live in the homes on trust-owned land, and “general members” who live, work or own property in the trust’s service area.
Headwaters Community Trust began as an outgrowth of another community-driven initiative — a monthly housing forum that has been taking place at the East Craftsbury Presbyterian Church for several years.
The church, which had been looking for a way to respond to the need for affordable housing, started the forum in 2023, according to Jenny Stoner, a church official and co-convener of the forum.
Forum participants circulated a letter in Craftsbury last summer asking residents if they might help address the “urgent need for long-term housing” by converting seasonal or short-term rentals into long-term rentals or adding accessory dwelling units to their property, for which funding is available.
“Our small town is struggling to house families, students and teachers for our local schools and colleges. Our local businesses are struggling to find housing for their employees” read the letter, signed by local businesses such as Craftsbury Outdoor Center, Pete’s Greens and Sterling College and former state Rep. Katherine Sims, D-Craftsbury. “Please help us to save our community by providing long term housing for our beloved friends and neighbors.”
The group also had a panel discussion on accessory dwelling units this past fall, Stoner said in an email, and learned of six such units that RuralEdge — which develops and operates affordable rental housing across the Northeast Kingdom — thinks are a result of the panel.
In addition to the monthly housing forum and newly formed trust, two separate Greensboro housing projects are also in the works. The Greensboro Initiative, associated with Central Vermont Habitat for Humanity, plans to construct two new duplexes in Greensboro Bend this spring. The proceeds from the sale of those homes would be reinvested in constructing additional affordable homes.
RuralEdge and the town of Greensboro have also formed a partnership to redevelop the town hall to include 20 new apartments. (The project, which has faced significant pushback from some residents, will go to a vote on Town Meeting Day next month.)
Linda Ramsdell, who grew up in Craftsbury and has made it her home for almost 40 years, serves as president of the Headwaters Community Trust’s board of directors. She said a $15,000 grant from the Northeast Vermont Development Association gave the organization some early momentum. In addition, Ramsdell said they’ve received generous volunteer support from John Davis, a founder of Burlington Associates who has worked with community land trusts all over the world.
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Roughly 75 community members attended the trust’s “soft launch” last September, Ramsdell said.
“People were really excited and supportive,” she said. “That excitement was really wonderful to see because, ultimately, a community land trust is community-led development on community-owned land.”
Ramsdell said what stood out to her about the community land trust model, in addition to the perpetual affordability of its residences, was its flexibility. Over 300 exist in the country, she said, both rural and urban and of all sizes — including in more scenic places with numbers of tourists and second home owners like Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Now that Headwaters has received its nonprofit status, Ramsdell said its work turns to meeting with community organizations, boards and residents to hear their ideas and hopefully gain new members.
The group has also already received an offer of a piece of land — from the East Craftsbury Presbyterian Church, where it all started — though it would be unlikely to host housing.
The church plans to allow Craftsbury Saplings, a child care center that operates in the downstairs of the church building, to expand to the adjacent property. However, the church has offered to donate the land itself to Headwaters to hold in perpetuity.
While Ramsdell said there is likely no room for both the expanded child care center and additional housing, Headwaters’ mission does extend to other community assets and general affordability — including affordable child care. The trust hasn’t yet determined whether it will accept the church’s offer.
While a lot of work is ahead for the community land trust, including fundraising, Ramsdell is optimistic about the opportunities for securing federal and state funding.
“We have to be patient and just go through the steps and get it done,” she said.
Ramsdell said the group also looks forward to collaborating with organizations already working on affordable housing projects, including RuralEdge.
“We need all of the options that can possibly be on the table,” she said. “We need affordable rental housing and we need affordable homeownership opportunities. And, of course, there’s always going to be like, second homes. … Now is the time when we kind of need to have everything on the table.”
Patrick Shattuck, executive director of RuralEdge, agreed.
“Housing production is a huge challenge and we are excited to see others addressing this with us and mobilizing locally,” Shattuck wrote in an email, adding that the organization “welcomes partnerships” with other groups and views their collective efforts as complementary.
Headwaters’ board members expressed their appreciation for being able to take action and work toward housing solutions in their area directly.
“If we just shrug and let the market run its course there will be less and less housing options for those who call this region home and serve in essential roles, such as in agriculture/forest business, as caregivers, and construction and maintenance workers,” said Morrill. “These towns cannot sustain themselves without addressing the housing crisis and its impact on these people.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: In the Northeast Kingdom, residents organize to tackle housing crisis .