08 Sep Neighbors Working Together to Save Housing

“To afford rent these days, it’s not easy. You might need to work 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet or live with other families. Even after that, you might not live in housing with dignity,” explained Fanny Ortiz of Fideicomiso Comunitario Tierra Libre (FCTL.) This scenario is all too familiar in Boyle Heights where gentrification fuels the rapid displacement of long-time and lower-income residents. Having experienced the housing crisis first-hand and living in affordable housing as a single mom of 5 kids, Fanny found her calling at FCTL. “I feel like I owe it to all those people who are facing housing insecurity in this extractive world that uses housing as a commodity to make profit, as opposed to making sure that we are all housed with dignity and security,” she said.

FCTL is a community land trust in Boyle Heights that Fanny co-founded three years ago. FCTL aims to take land and housing off the speculative market and return it to community control. To get FCTL off the ground, Fanny needed to learn the technical skills to purchase and manage a property. Luckily, Fanny found LTSC, and the two organizations partnered in a LA County pilot program to purchase a property last summer. LTSC is making much-needed repairs to the property and is mentoring FCTL in real estate acquisition, asset management and property management. “LTSC is the guiding light to lead us, which will eventually allow for FCTL to take over on its own,” explained Fanny.

Though this is only the beginning, LTSC is excited to work with mission-aligned community partners like FCTL who battle gentrification and fight for community self-determination. “As low wage workers and immigrants, we wouldn’t be able to become homeowners on our own. And that’s the way we feel about FCTL, we wouldn’t be able to do it alone. That’s why it’s important to build these relationships with community-based organizations like LTSC,” Fanny told us.