About
The Maggie Walker Community Land Trust (MWCLT) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that seeks to develop and maintain permanently affordable homeownership opportunities for low and moderate-income households. The organization was formed in 2016 and is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors.
Using the Community Land Trust (CLT) model, the MWCLT creates homes that are sold to qualified buyers while retaining ownership of the land beneath the houses. These homes receive a permanent subsidy that stays in the home and allows the home to be sold and re-sold below market value. As an affordable alternative to renting, the CLT model allows families to build wealth through their monthly mortgage payments. In exchange for buying the house at a lower price, a CLT homeowner agrees to pass on the gift, and sell the home at a price that is affordable to someone in a similar financial situation. The new resale price is determined by the increase in the Richmond region’s Area Median Income (AMI).
The Maggie Walker CLT is committed to providing perpetually affordable homes to families with modest incomes throughout Richmond’s neighborhoods. In this way, we can keep our neighborhoods diverse and vibrant, even as housing prices rise.
Without a program like the MWCLT, many neighborhoods in Richmond are unaffordable to many of our citizens.
Mission, Vision and Values
Our mission: The Maggie Walker Community Land Trust seeks to develop and steward permanently affordable housing opportunities to foster racially equitable communities.
Our vision: The communities of metropolitan Richmond will be inclusive, affordable, and healthy places to live.
Our values:
RACIAL EQUITY – We believe our work must contribute to undoing historic racial injustices in our housing markets.
AFFORDABILITY – We believe permanently affordable housing solutions are essential to creating permanently mixed-income communities.
COLLABORATIONS & PARTNERSHIP – We believe the work of the CLT can best be undertaken through leveraging partnerships and building capacity through collaboration.
COMMUNITY – We believe community-driven work is key to equitable and sustainable growth.
STEWARDSHIP – We believe that we have a responsibility to future generations of communities and homeowners, and commit to caring for our land, finances, homes, and people in such a way that benefits both our current generation and those to come.
2022-2025 Strategic Plan
Short summary of what this is and what it’s for, why someone would want to download it or what it means to MWCLT.
Board, Staff, and Partners
Key board members and staff are listed below.
Visit our Our People for a full list.
Board Chair
Carolyn Champion
Dominion Energy
Chief Executive Officer
Erica Sims
Chief Operating Officer
Lark Washington
Our Namesake
Maggie Lena Walker (1864 – 1934) was the first woman of color to establish a bank in the United States. She was a community and business leader in Richmond, and her efforts to create and manage the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank left a powerful legacy for black families in the city.