Athens LandLand forTrust Conservation & Community 685 N. Pope Street • Athens, Georgia 30601 www.athenslandtrust.org 706.613.0122 Newsletter Fall/Winter 2019 • Volume 23 • Issue 2 West Broad Keeps Rising: Sustainable Solutions for Neighborhood Revitalization In late 2018, ALT partnered with West Broad neighborhood residents and the Athens-Clarke County (ACC) Sustainability Office to receive a grant from the Southeast Sustainable Communities Fund. This grant, a partnership between the Southeast Sustainability Directors Network and The Kendeda Fund, supports communities working to equitably implement sustainable energy and water initiatives. Resident-identified priorities include measures to reduce home water and energy usage, as well as hazardous tree removal and improvements to neighborhood tree canopy. An advisory board of resident leaders is working with project staff to plan and implement solutions with life-changing outcomes already happening. An early success occurred when a utility audit identified a home using nearly 900 gallons of water a day; the low- income homeowner struggled to pay extremely high bills for largely wasted resources. Grant funds made it possible to make the repairs and water usage dropped to 60 gallons a day -- well below the national average for a single-person household. The grant is also supporting the dedication of local resources to the neighborhood’s relatively neglected tree canopy, which has made homes vulnerable to damage, especially in the case of extreme weather phenomena. Working with the ACC Community Forester and New Urban Forestry, we have done a tree health analysis to prioritize removal of hazardous limbs and trees. In addition to environmental solutions, the West Broad Advisory Board is working with ALT to mobilize residents in prioritizing and implementing $4 million in T-SPLOST (Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) funds allocated to neighborhood infrastructure improvements. Recent conversations have focused on developing a plan for a roundabout that addresses traffic issues while supporting neighborhood safety and walkability. The sustainability initiatives are being undertaken in hand with ALT’s neighborhood revitalization and home repair efforts through the Young Urban Builders (YUB) program, which was begun in 2018 with an initial investment from The Kendeda Fund and Athens-Clarke County. (Read about the YUB's recent work on page 5). In late October, staff from The Kendeda Fund held their annual retreat in Athens and had the opportunity to hear more about these initiatives, tour a home undergoing an energy audit through the program, and meet members of both the advisory board and the YUB program. With ongoing input from residents, we will continue our work through this grant to meet a spectrum of community and environmental needs. A crew with New Urban Forestry removes vines and debris in preparation for removal of hazardous trees and limbs on a West Broad homeowner’s property. Athens Land Trust Board of Directors Upcoming Events and Announcements President • Sarah Yates Sutherland Vice President • Eric Orbock Secretary • Willa Fambrough Treasurer • Nancy Stangle Darren Ash Charley Hill Gloria Bizzle Dan Lorentz Beth Gavrilles Michael Thurmond Pearl Hall Our Board meets on the third Monday of each month at 5:30 PM in the ALT office; meetings are open to the public. Staff Executive Director • Heather Benham Assistant Director • Monica Magee Director of Operations • Lorinda Crane Conservation Director • Krisztian Varsa Conservation Coordinator • Dyan Holt Conservation Specialist • Carly Evans Farmer Outreach Coordinator • Mallory O'Steen Farmer Outreach Specialist • Sherman Green Community Garden Network Coordinator • Julian Green Look out for the announcement of a new location for Farm Business Specialist • Rita O'Brien the West Broad Farmers Market and Garden in 2020! Farmer Outreach Technical Advisor • Paul Sorah Housing Director • Clo Barnett 12th Annual Harvest Moon Dinner a Success in Spite of Showers! Affordable Housing Operations Specialist • David Ellsworth-Keller Since 2008, ALT partners, supporters, and guests have gathered each Director of Credit & Financial Growth • Yyokkia fall for the Harvest Moon Dinner -- an outdoor autumn farm to table Lawson meal under the full moon -- to raise funds to support ALT’s mission VISTA Outreach Coordinator for Credit & Financial and work in the community. Thunderstorms in the forecast for this Growth • Jessica Brooks year’s dinner prevented guests from gathering at ALT’s Williams Farm, Business Coach • Brian Allen Neighborhood Sustainability Project Manager • marking the first time the dinner was held indoors. Thanks to restaurant Tawana Smith Mattox partners LRG Provisions and Last Resort Grill, the event was relocated Development Director • Tai Sherman to Wall & Broad, an inviting event space overlooking downtown Athens. Development Coordinator • Erin O’Brien We are truly grateful to our generous event sponsors (listed on page Community Engagement Specialist • Nikema 11), as well as all who attended. Your donations will ensure ALT can Stovall continue to build stronger, healthier, more sustainable communities. VISTA Development Assistant • Louise Platter Our thanks go as well to a VISTA PR Coordinator • Ashley Thompson Interim Community Agriculture Director • Cameron great group of hardworking Teeter volunteers, including students Young Urban Builders Program Coordinator • from the Oconee County Fernakey Brown Middle School Beta Club (read West Broad Market Manager • Sherrie Anderson more about our community of Williams Farm Manager • Seth Nivens volunteers on page 8). Assistant Farm Managers • John Anderson, Darious Newsome , & Deijhon Yearby VISTA Volunteer Coordinator • Morgan Watson Athens Land Trust is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization Program Specialist • Hannah Johnson whose mission is to conserve, empower and sustain Project Oversight • George Wright communities through responsible and visionary land use. 2 • Athens Land Trust Newsletter • Fall/Winter 2019 Athens Land Trust A New Chapter for West Broad Rising In October, ALT Executive Director Heather Benham and Board Member Willa Fambrough joined representatives from communities across the country who are working with The Kresge Foundation’s FreshLo initiative to preserve their neighborhoods, celebrate local culture, bolster healthy food access, and deliver transformative economic opportunities. Through FreshLo, ALT has worked with West Broad neighborhood residents and stakeholders to implement FreshLo grantees gather at the program's annual convening in New Orleans, LA strategies that address aspirations long in October 2019. voiced by this community: food-based and other economic opportunities, culturally relevant development, and preservation of cultural and historic landmarks and institutions. From this work, we have shaped plans for the coming West Broad Community Campus, which will include the brand new location of the West Broad Garden and Farmers Market, a commercial kitchen to support food-based entrepreneurs, and infrastructure and resources for an array of youth and community programs. West Broad Rising is the name that has been embraced by the community members behind this grassroots movement, and it is the spirit with which we work in step with them to realize their vision. ALT was originally awarded a FreshLo grant in June 2016, and has received an additional three years of support through this program, which has given us the resources to support growing leadership roles for community members in this work. Stay tuned — big things are coming as West Broad keeps rising! New Communities: Celebrating 50 Years of Community Land Trusts In early October, we travelled to Albany, Georgia to celebrate the 50th anniversary of New Communities, Inc. Widely recognized as the first Community Land Trust (CLT), New Communities was founded in 1969 on 5,735 acres in Lee County, Georgia to provide a safe haven for black farmers. Along with founders and civil rights icons Charles and Shirley Sherrod, New Communities families farmed over 1,800 acres and operated a farmers market on site. The vision was to become fully self-sufficient with plans for collective housing. A severe drought in the mid-80s, coupled with a discriminatory denial of USDA farm loan funds, led to foreclosure and loss of the land. After a decade-long class action lawsuit, New Communities was granted restitution and now operates as an institute addressing contemporary African American land loss, environmental, economic, food, and social justice. ALT Board Member Willa Fambrough and Executive Director Heather Benham joined Shirley Sherrod for a panel discussion, and the convening was also marked by a keynote address by Ambassador Andrew Young. The event made palpable the gravity of effort by the Sherrods and many others who came before us, and inspires us to continue the work of applying the CLT model A banner recognizing the New Communities legacy on view to promote community-led development and permanently during the anniversary celebration. affordable homeownership. Fall/Winter 2019 • 3 Athens Land Trust Homeownership Creates Stronger Neighborhoods ALT’s recent construction of single family homes We are grateful for our local partners who lent their are adding to the affordable homeownership expertise to our recent homebuyer education classes: opportunities in the West Broad neighborhood, Mike Paulk - Brand Manager where many low-income residents are trapped in Jolanda Rickett -