Mission, Vision, and Values
Our Mission
Kulshan Community Land Trust strengthens community by holding land in trust for permanently affordable homeownership and other community needs, and by offering financial and educational services to people of limited means.
Our Vision
A community everyone can afford. People who work in our community should be able to live in our community.
A healthy mix of housing types, sizes and prices, affordable at the wages of the jobs nearby. Through a variety of strategies and motivations the private, public, and nonprofit sectors create housing for our economically diverse community.
Diverse neighborhoods which reflect our diverse community. By encouraging a mix of housing prices within neighborhoods, and diverse neighbors sharing fences, we strengthen our community.
Land that is appreciated, conserved, productive, and affordable in perpetuity. A pervasive land ethic de-emphasizing a property’s speculative value.
Compact urban neighborhoods with easy access to jobs and transportation choices. Using incentives and best practices to grow a livable, environmentally sound, and compact community.
A citizenry involved in and shaping its community. A community so promising our neighbors feel invested in its future.
A generous and thankful community. A community where people will take care of each other when things fall apart.
Our Values
We believe in the power of:
Generosity. When we share what we have with our neighbors, we build a stronger neighborhood, what we have given multiplies, and our community equity appreciates.
Gratitude. When we appreciate the benefits we receive from our community, our neighborhood grows stronger and goodwill multiplies.
Working Together. By seeking common ground and combining efforts with diverse and sometimes unlikely allies, we are better able to improve our common wealth.
Open Doors and Talking Over Fences. We welcome and respect everyone in our neighborhood, and know that when we are faced with adversity and disharmony, the power of transparent and authentic communication resolves disputes and builds stronger relationships with our neighbors.
Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
Kulshan Community Land Trust is committed to growing a community everyone can afford.
We acknowledge that the land we now steward is the traditional and unceded territory of the Lummi, Nooksack, Samish, and Semiahmoo People, who have cared for and tended this land since time immemorial. Our role as stewards is informed by the history of this land.
We recognize the barriers to homeownership faced by historically marginalized communities and the ways discrimination has contributed to generational poverty and injustice in the housing market.
We honor the roots of the community land trust model in the Civil Rights Movement. With this in mind, we remain committed to social justice.
We aim to expand our definition of community until it includes all people.
We prioritize equity and justice in our staff, our board membership, and our policies and procedures.
We position ourselves as learners, aware of our shortcomings and seeking improvement.
Our Strategy
We apply the community land trust strategy and work within prevailing economic and governing systems, using assets and insights from all sectors, to better the common good in our community.
Together, we:
Create urban vitality. Contribute to urban vitality by adding affordable housing to neighborhoods already served with jobs and transportation options.
Complement neighborhoods gracefully. Partner with others to create affordable homeownership that blends gracefully into neighborhoods.
Grow community. Preserve affordable homeownership for people working and living in our community, and for our children and grandchildren.
Build momentum. Put good ideas into action. Build and help purchase more homes every year. Make a difference together by growing awareness and involvement in bringing about our vision.
Create an opportunity to give. Give our community the opportunity to be positive and generous; to build a community where people will take care of each other when things fall apart; and to invest in their community, so it will always be there.
“A huge weight was lifted. I thought, no one can make us move again. We don’t have to worry about losing our dogs. Our kids can grow up in this house and stay at the school they love, stay friends with our neighbors.”
— KulshanCLT Homeowner