The Cost of Home

What if we could link the need for neighborhood economic development with the need for asset building? A Community Investment Trust uses the same proven structure of a REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust), a collective investment model that has traditionally used by the wealthy, but is designed specifically to benefit asset-poor, low-income investors.

This model gives low-income people an opportunity to invest in positive neighborhood development so that they are able to exercise some level of control over the future of their neighborhoods, potentially close a gap in the financing structure of projects that otherwise may not happen, and earn a financial return on the investment that will increase their income.

Come learn more about the model that MercyCorps Northwest is developing in Oregon and Jenga Mwendo’s work to make New Orleans the first city outside of Portland to launch a Community Investment Trust.

This talk is part of Small Center’s new exhibit, The Cost of Home: Local Models and National Policy for Affordability. Free and open to the public M-F, 9-5 through January 2017.

The Cost of Home exhibit works to demystify the landscape of affordable housing by visualizing the programs, policies, and design politics that have shaped and continue to shape New Orleans and the nation, while expanding understandings of public intervention in the market and the role of policy in shaping outcomes. Through a series of case studies, the exhibit also works to contextualize the limited range of current models of design and program to providing housing for low to moderate income residents in New Orleans while proposing underutilized alternatives.

As part of Small Center’s ongoing Affordable Housing research thread, The Cost of Home grows out of a series of panels and projects that work to expand our engagement with the public towards a more equitable city. This ongoing exploration includes projects with Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative, Jericho Road, Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center, and Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance, along with related panel discussions and guest speakers.