Creating More Affordable Housing Opportunities to Build Community
It would have been nice if before we got on to the business of thinking about smartphones, self-driving vehicles and particle accelerators we'd thought of first assuring that those things human beings need for survival were both accessible to and affordable for everyone. I could make the case that had we done so many of the issues pulling society apart wouldn't seem so insurmountable but then I suspect so can you so let's move on.
My name is Hal Russek and I am the new Executive Director of the Two Valleys Community Land Trust. I was a restaurant owner/proprietor for more than 20 years but more recently as Executive Director for the Marconi Conference Center Operating Corp., I helped steer the 62-acre state park in Marshall to a new agreement that will rehabilitate the conference facilities and restore the historic structures that date back to 1914 when they functioned as a receiving station for the world's first pass at circumnavigating the globe with wireless communications.
But enough about me. What happened to the San Geronimo Valley Affordable Housing Association, you ask? Still here, still a 501 (c)3 nonprofit dedicated to preserving, creating, and managing permanently affordable homes in the San Geronimo Valley and Nicasio, but our transition to a Community Land Trust means the community will now have a voice in policy decisions. Our newly formed TVCLT will join with CLAM (Community Land Trust of West Marin), BCLT (Bolinas Community Land Trust) and Stinson Beach Affordable Housing Committee in the WMHC (West Marin Housing Collaborative). Yes, I know, lots of acronyms, but the advantage for us is we now have access to the resources, experience and knowledge base of this great group of dedicated housing advocates.
It's no secret there is a desperate need to build a greater and more robust affordable _ housing community in Marin so TVCLT is rolling up our sleeves and getting to work. We recently closed on a property located at 6956 Sir Francis Drake and as • an example of the value of community to our work, it was a last minute, desperate hand-wringing ask of our donors in the valley that allowed us to move swiftly to acquire the property when it became available.
As we go forward we'll be looking not only for more affordable housing opportunities in the Two Valleys, but also for opportunities to build community. We need financial support, sure, but our dream is we will all of us lock arms in this effort and build a model community of diversity, equity and inclusion. To quote Maya Angelou, "The ache for home lives- in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned".
—Published in Stone Soup, SVG’s Community Center