Investing in your community may be the most important action you take this year.
Affordable housing is a problem - across our nation, our state and in our own backyards. It exists in Chaska - it's our problem, too. Schoolteachers, firemen, police officers, machinists, retail clerks - people who work in Chaska want to live here. Young adults who grew up in Chaska want to keep living here. Newcomers want to choose Chaska as their "hometown." These are our co-workers, our volunteers, our neighbors and our friends. With current economic challenges, it is difficult for many of our community members to become homeowners. In fact, the median price of a new home in Chaska is $275,000. Think about your first home - could you afford it today? Can your employees? Through a unique public-private partnership with the City of Chaska and the Carver County CDA, the Chaska Community Land Trust (CCLT) is creating and preserving permanent affordable housing opportunities that benefit Chaska and our residents. We want to move people into market-value homes they can afford, and help them become full members of our community. These are not "low-income" homes - they are simply financed differently than traditional mortgages. But we can't sustain that affordability without funds to support land donation, subsidy and ongoing operational issues. Chaska values responsibility and generosity. The CCLT supports and models those values, as do our community leaders, businesses and residents. Many have invested in the CCLT and its commitment to making the dream of homeownership in Chaska a reality. We ask you to continue to invest in Chaska, and in the value of living and working in the same community. Please consider an annual "preferred partner" investment to the CCLT - and help provide affordable housing opportunities to your employees, family members and friends ... today and tomorrow. On behalf of the CCLT, thank you for your consideration. Mary WelchExecutive Director Bob Roepke
Business Liaison Chaska Community Land Trust
(952) 227-7514