A Special Story for World CLT Day 2025
On May 7, 2025, Dr. John Cooper Jr. opened Community Home Trust’s latest email newsletter at his desk in College Station, Texas. The first thing he saw was the featured available home: 200 Trellis Court. Then he replied to the email to ask if we knew the history of that home. Turns out 20 years earlier to the day, on May 7, 2005, John and his family had celebrated purchasing that very same home, CHT’s 100th home sold.
Twenty years later, from the other side of the country, John and his family still keep up with some of their neighbors from Vineyard Square. His kids – one teenager and two in their twenties – are still in touch with some of their friends from that neighborhood. And twenty years into his career, John is still doing community development work as Professor of the Practice in Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at Texas A&M University.
As an alumnus of our homeownership program and a former CHT Board member, John remains a big fan of the community land trust model. He explains that without CHT, at that time he and his wife Tonya would not have been able to take the step of becoming homeowners – and without the money they saved in the seven years they lived in their CHT home, they would have had a harder time purchasing the home in Texas they have lived in since 2013.
At the time they purchased their CHT home, John had recently completed a doctorate at UNC and worked at MDC, a Durham-based nonprofit organization that equips Southern leaders, institutions, and communities with the necessary tools and strategies to advance equity — particularly racial and gender equity — and economic mobility. His wife Tonya worked as an actor in local theatre productions and a vocal coach, and they had two children: Layla, who was three years old, and Mariah, who was 10 months old. Their son John III was born while they lived in their CHT home.
Community Home Trust newsletter from summer 2025, featuring a dedication celebration for the Cooper family as they purchased our 100th home
The Cooper family on their porch at their CHT home
The Cooper family today, at their home in Texas
The Coopers’ former home at 200 Trellis Court is a great example of the unique value of community land trust homeownership. At 20 years old, the home has had three owners and will soon be sold to a fourth. But for that entire time, the home has remained in Community Home Trust’s land trust inventory, which means that while its owners have benefitted from owning the home, we have also remained stewards of the property and ensured not only its permanent affordability but also that it has remained in great condition.
Community land trust homeownership is built on a shared equity model, which balances the wealth-building potential of individual homeownership with the community value of shared assets. In short, the homeowner earns some equity in the home (in our program, usually around 1% per year), while benefiting from significantly reduced housing costs, allowing them to use those savings to build wealth in other ways. In the Coopers’ case – and in fact, in the case of many of our homeowners – that amounts to saving money for a down payment on the purchase of their next home on the private market.
And by limiting the equity the homeowner earns, we are also able to maintain the permanent affordability of the home, meaning that the equity is shared with the community: the initial funds invested in the home go on to benefit each of the future homeowners in the same way as the first – in the case of 200 Trellis Court, soon for the fourth time over! As ongoing stewards of the home, we’re committed to ensuring that the home is in great shape for each homebuyer, too, protecting the community’s asset in perpetuity.
“It was a stepping stone for us,” John explains of his family’s experience of CHT homeownership. “I don’t think we could have [purchased a home on the private market] at that time. And of course, the neighborhood: no way we could have lived there without Community Home Trust. It allowed us to plant some financial seeds that came to fruition, that we were able to harvest when we sold the house, and so it was great for us. I recommend it for everybody.”
Former CHT Executive Director Robert Dowling remembers the Cooper family fondly and shares how disappointed he was when he learned they were moving back to Texas. But he also remembers how well the Vineyard Square neighborhood “worked.” As one of CHT’s first inclusionary zoning projects – where the neighborhood developer set aside 15% of the new home inventory for affordable homeownership – it’s a great example of what’s so advantageous about the model. He remembers going to the neighborhood playground, which is right next to the Coopers’ former home, and finding parents and kids hanging out there together, both CHT homeowners and market rate homeowners. That integration of permanently affordable land trust homes into otherwise unaffordable neighborhoods is a hallmark of CHT’s program. “This is exactly why inclusionary policy is so good,” he explains.
As for John, he has only the fondest of memories of his family’s CHT homebuying experience and what it was like to transition from being a renter 20 years ago: “It was a great day to get the keys and to, you know, feel a sense of accomplishment, to go through the financial literacy classes, do all the work, and for that day to come and to be able to say, ‘Hey, you know, this is ours.’”
World CLT Day is a global event dedicated to celebrating and raising awareness about community land trusts (CLTs). It’s a day to connect participants from across the world, showcase the contributions of CLTs towards affordable housing, community empowerment, and sustainable development, and emphasize the movement’s commitment to inclusive growth and social change. The occasion serves as an opportunity to highlight the diverse and global presence of CLTs, sharing success stories and the positive impact of their work on communities worldwide. Learn more on their website.
