Beverly-Vermont Community Land Trust [BVCLT] is the organization best positioned to be a vehicle for decommodifying housing, bringing land under community ownership in Koreatown and the greater Los Angeles transit-oriented neighborhoods. In the context of rampant gentrification and displacement, BVCLT prioritizes stabilizing housing for working class, primarily Asian and Latinx, communities by acquiring properties, stewarding land, and being led by tenants and those most impacted by housing injustices.
Here is a breakdown of our Organization’s Name:
Beverly-Vermont- Stands for the name of the nearest metro station for our first property acquisition. It signals the importance of mobility justice to sustainable and healthy neighborhoods and the priority we place on preserving permanently affordable housing nearing public transit.
Community– Community means that working class people of color who are most impacted by gentrification and displacement are centered in our work and, through deep democracy, exercise decision-making power and enjoy opportunities to be involved and lead the organization.
Land– Beverly-Vermont Community Land Trust [BVCLT] aims to secure land for long-term stewardship. The improvements, or that which sits on top of the land, will transition over to collective ownership models. The land can be used for housing, cooperative businesses, farms, gardens, or anything else the community decides on.
Trust- We hold the land in trust- meaning we will not return the land or properties back to the speculative real-estate market after acquisition. This allows the land to remain within community ownership and permanent affordability in perpetuity.
Vision
We envision a world where multi-racial working class communities exercise collective decision-making power over how land is used in our neighborhoods so that we can live healthy, resilient lives in right relationship with the place that we call home.
Mission
Beverly-Vermont Community Land Trust [BVCLT]’s mission is to build community power to keep working class communities of color in their homes and neighborhoods through permanent affordability and democratic community ownership in Koreatown and the surrounding transit-oriented neighborhoods in Los Angeles by:
- Advocating for the decommodification of land and removing land permanently from the speculative housing market.
- Creating just, equitable and ecological housing developments and alternative community ownership models.
- Serving as an incubator for member-led programs and campaigns through centering the leadership of those most impacted by gentrification, displacement, and racist, extractive housing policies.
CORE Values
- Centering The Most Impacted: Communities who are directly impacted by displacement lead us.
- Systems Level Change: We make systems level change to get to the root causes of systemic inequities.
- Building Community Power: We build community power to control how land and housing is used in our neighborhoods.
- Decommodify Land & House: We believe that land and housing is not a commodity, but rather a basic need that should be afforded to all people, especially those historically excluded from access to land and stable housing.
- Deep Democracy & Accountability: We practice non-hierarchical, deep democracy within our organization and in our movement building.
- Ecological Justice: We model ecological justice in our work by aiming to correct injustices in the built environment and bring our neighborhoods into right relationship with our surrounding ecosystems.
| Black, Indigenous, People of Color, working class, and directly impacted communities lead the organization. Working class Black, Indigenous, People of Color have been systemically disenfranchised through white supremacy and colonization of this land, genocide of indigenous people, slavery of black and indigenous folx, Jim Crow era policies, segregation, redlining, imperialist foreign policies, and inequitable access to wealth. In order to challenge these centuries old atrocities and systems that have been put in place, it must begin with returning power and decision-making to those communities. We will center racial justice in our efforts to keep residents from being displaced from rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods. build democratic collective ownership opportunities, ecological land stewardship, and public policy advocacy and campaigns. It will be a lens from which we evaluate ourselves and the impact of our work. | Systems Level Change We recognize that systems and policies uphold capitalism, racism, and white supremacy that have led to a housing crisis that disproportionately impacts working class people of color. While we do place-based organizing and provide services to our community members, our policy advocacy and programming is targeted to make systems level change. Further…We believe the process and systems of an organization or initaitive must be equitable in order for the impact to be equitable. It is important as an organization, that our operations and decision-making match the impact that we are trying to create for our communities and neighborhoods. In order to create systems that deliver racial reparations, equity, justice, and ecological justice, we will imagine and create different transformative models of decision-making and organizing. |
| Community Power Building Community power building is a process done through relationship and trust building with community members and residents, organizing folx around issues that impact them and what they’re interested in, and creating opportunities for them to build their skills and lead the work. Our place-based organizing and relationship-building with community members is a high priority for us because it will take time to address the harm institutions have caused people and truly involve the local community and members to lead the organization. | Decommodification of Land and Housing We believe that land and housing is not a commodity. It should not be a profitable venture. We believe all people, especially BIPOC and working class people, have a right to safe, consistent affordable housing that is connected to transit and operates in right relationship with the natural environment. |
| Deep Democracy, Transparency, and Accountability We believe in deep democracy, which means that there is space for collective decision-making, transparency, and accountability at multiple levels. This includes leaning into horizontal or non hierarchical management systems, collective ownership or governing models, and running as a worker cooperative. While agency and trust is given to the board, staff, and members, there should also be built in transparency and opportunities for feedback and accountability. | Ecological Justice Ecological Justice grounds itself in relationships. It calls for people to be in a just, accountable, and sustainable relationship with other living beings and the environment. To be in a just relationship, there is a need to address: Impact of racism, casteism, capitalism, and white supremacy on certain communities. Impact of environmental injustices and the BIPOC and working class communities who have borne the brunt of climate disasters and the effects of extraction from the environmentImpact of capitalistic consumption and production on other living beings and the environment. |
