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July 2021 Newsletter

California Roars Back!

T.R.U.S.T. South L.A. and our ERAP (Emergency Relief Assistance Program) recipients were invited to witness the launch of Governor Newsom's California Comeback Plan. Governor Newsom signed the $100 Billion California Comeback Plan that will provide immediate relief to Californians hit hardest by the pandemic. For the Emergency Rent Assistance Program visit housingiskey.com or call 833-430-2122.

In the wake of the racial justice uprisings last summer, the LA City Council passed a motion to identify surplus land that can be given to CLTs in Council Districts 1, 8, and 10. CLTs are crucial partners in housing equity, and it is a big step that the LA City Council recognizes our work!

While TRUST South LA and other CLTs have yet to receive any commitments to transfer the land into our stewardship, we have already begun organizing community members and our allies to show the City that we are ready to lead this process.

This summer, we are working with students from SCI-Arc, the Southern California Institute of Architecture, to envision potential designs and uses in vacant lots in South LA. We are also surveying community members in order to identify what they want and need in their neighborhoods. Our goal is to create a report surveying and analyzing this land and its potential uses. Stay tuned for further updates!

Foreclosure Intervention Housing Preservation Program (FIHPP - formerly known as SB1079) is now a law!

Our very own Associate Director, Oscar Monge is now board president of the CA CLT Network. He is joined by Fanny Ortiz, the Network’s new Treasurer who also helps lead the Fideicomiso Communitario Tierra Libre as their organizer, co-founder, and board member. Together, we've co-founded the LA CLT Coalition and pushed Community Land Trust advocacy statewide!

Through our work, we have successfully won $500 million for a new Foreclosure Intervention Housing Preservation Program (FIHPP). This program would help organizations like TRUST South LA and other CLTs buys homes at risk of foreclosure, prevent the displacement of these households, and ensure that those homes would forever be affordable.

Read more about Fanny’s and Oscar’s experiences and thoughts on this policy: California Puts up $500 Million for Community Ownership Against Big Real Estate (nextcity.org)