The National Affordable for Whom Conference was held on August 1-2, 2019 at the City University Law School in Long Island City, NY. It brought together over 200 leaders, organizers, activists, policy advocates, community housing developers and academics together to share experiences developing deeply affordable (very low-income) housing on community owned land, initiated by community organizing. The free conference was hosted by Partners for Dignity & Rights, the Right to the City Alliance, the New Economy Project, and the New York City Community Land Initiative.

Shirley Sherrod, a founding member of the first Community Land Trust (CLT) formed in the nation, New Communities, Inc., kicked off the conference. Forged in the struggle against racist violence and discriminatory lending, New Communities embraced a co-operative economic model of shared land ownership to gain racial and economic justice.

Case studies in housing development finance were made by representatives of the Women’s Community Revitalization Project, Struggle for Miami’s Affordable and Sustainable Housing (SMASH), and the East Bay Permanent Real Estate Co-Operative. 

City of Lakes CLT, Sawmill CLT, and the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board led a session on housing stewardship challenges and solutions.

Organizing and mobilizing strategies were shared by the United Workers, ONE DC, Inquilinxs Unidxs, Chinatown CLT, Council of Community Housing Organizations (San Francisco), and the Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition.

East L.A. Community Corporation, Ironbound Community Corporation, LISC-NY, and the Tenants Union of Washington State shared strategies on engaging and evaluating potential partners.

Oakland CLT, the Chainbreaker Collective and the City-Wide Tenant Union of Rochester also presented.