How Mill Creek mobile home residents bought the land under their feet

Years of misrule and a subsequent dearth of hard currency, along with crippling bank-fostered debt cycles and exorbitant home mortgage interest rates, have created immense suffering for Myanmar's poor. But with the guidance of a local NGO, Women for the World, a pilot project helped women in some of Yangon's poorest neighborhoods capitalize on their cultural "head-of-household" status. It helped them form and manage community savings cooperatives, secure land, build homes, buy food, and even generate profit through loans to families' business enterprises.

In Jackson, Mississippi, a series of community-led cooperatives are creating opportunities for affordable home ownership. This is part of a trend across the country to create community land trusts. They are financed through donations, other community businesses, or commissions. Though each land trust faces hurdles, they are collectively allowing more access to wealth and ownership in historically low-income neighborhoods.

In Washington D.C., the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase act, gives tenants the right to be the first in line to buy the building they live in, if it goes up for sale. The city, also has a trust fund that finances affordable housing, and provides funds for people looking to purchase a building and create a co-op. Together, these things make it easier for tenants to access affordable housing, and fight gentrification. So, far the city has 137 co-ops. "Now we get to choose our neighbors, we get to set our own rules, and we’re in control of our living conditions.”

As climate change increases flooding in the area, residents of Vermont’s Tri-Park Cooperative mobile home community can relocate to safer locations out of the flood zone without increasing their monthly expenses. The offer is part of a program created by the co-op and the local government that will cover the costs of the new homes and buyouts.

The Athens Repair Café allows locals to bring in their broken items — like bikes and appliances — to be repaired by skilled volunteers in an effort to utilize a reuse model that extends the life of the items, preventing the need for purchasing replacements. The Athens Repair Café is one of 2,664 Repair Cafés worldwide registered under Repair Café International and over the past year, about 100 items have been successfully repaired.

The Diné Naazbaa Partnership (DNP) serves Navajo Nation veterans, connecting them with food, medication, transportation and other necessities, as they’re more likely to be unemployed and far less likely to use or apply for VA services. The DNP has connected with about 1,228 of the 14,700 veterans on the Navajo Nation and has partnered with 370 groups to fund projects that provide housing improvements and emergency financial aid to veterans.

The Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity is taking a unique approach to addressing the local affordable housing shortage. The nonprofit develops its own subdivisions and builds homes in batches, mostly constructed by volunteers, who will eventually own the homes, alongside supervisors.

Repair bonuses pay for part of the repairs necessary to keep electronics working as a way to reduce e-waste. Research calculates that the repair program in Berlin helped prevent more than 400 tons of electronic waste from entering landfills from 2021-2023.

The South Side Queer Farmer Convergence provides culturally-affirming community gatherings that effectively reduce isolation, promote emotional healing, and foster mental wellbeing for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC farmers facing significant social stressors and discrimination.

Las Casas Trans son refugios comunitarios creados por y para mujeres trans en Bolivia que ofrecen servicios integrales de salud, apoyo psicológico, asesoría legal y oportunidades de emprendimiento, evolucionando desde espacios de asistencia básica hasta plataformas de emancipación colectiva que han atendido a más de 2,500 personas en cuatro ciudades y se expanden como modelo replicable de transformación social. Puedes leer este artículo en ingles aquí: https://solu.news/nsr4