Inland Equity Community Land Trust

Inland Equity Community Land Trust is dedicated to the social and charitable development and preservation of high-quality, affordable and environmentally sustainable housing so people can thrive in the community where they live and work. When feasible, the Corporation will use long-term land use restrictions and long-term ground leases as a tool to provide and preserve affordable rental and ownership housing and to create homeownership opportunities for people who fall under the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s definition of “housing cost burdened” as defined in 2018.

Inland Equity Community Land Trust is dedicated to the social and charitable development and preservation of high-quality, affordable and environmentally sustainable housing so people can thrive in the community where they live and work. IE CLT uses long-term ground leases as a tool to provide and preserve affordable housing and to create homeownership opportunities for people who fall under the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s definition of “housing cost burdened.” We achieve this by working in partnership with local government agencies, community groups, and other stakeholders to identify and acquire properties, develop housing, and provide resident services. Inland Equity Community Land Trust has deep roots in both Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Our work in the counties focus on housing inequality to insure that the counties increase the number of emergency, bridge and transitional housing spaces available. Inland Equity Community Land Trust grew out of a fiscally sponsored project of Community Partners called California Partnership CAP.

IE CLT formed as its own non-profit in 2019. CAP’s coalition work on housing began when we started monitoring the Housing and Disability Advocacy Program in 2016. Rents had outpaced the ability of people receiving SSI/SSP and pushed many disabled people into homelessness. Our coalition advocated for an increase in the COLA for SSI and for the development of low income, emergency and bridge housing. Inland Equity Community Land Trust received the 2024 Carmen Ramirez Award for Equity for our Plan Adelanto project. The Inland Equity Community Land Trust has earned a prestigious Sustainability Award from the Southern California Association of Governments. Plan Adelanto, which provides reduced-priced homes for low-income families, was honored with the Carmen Ramirez Award for Equity. Our first four homes in Adelanto are almost complete and we expect to have the certificates of occupancy soon. The Adelanto property, near Adelanto High School, is our organization’s first project with the intention to develop and steward affordable housing using the community land trust model. The homes are available to income qualified residents of San Bernardino County.

Over the years IE CLT has worked with many IE cities to encourage the development of prohousing policies. We have worked to help them develop compliant Housing Elements. We worked with the City of Jurupa Valley and the City of Riverside to help them develop inclusionary housing ordinances. For the past two years, IE CLT has worked to help establish tenants’ unions in the Inland Empire. The catalyst to this project began when Karen Suarez from Uplift San Bernardino asked IECLT to reach out to Deborah Harmon at the Date Park Apartments in San Bernardino. The situation there and in other complexes in the city has demonstrated a great need to enforce existing local ordinances and state laws. We now have regular tenant meetings in the cities of San Bernardino, Riverside, Ontario, Indio Redlands, Perris, Victorville and Hemet. IE CLT has been part of the City of Perris drafting of the renter protection ordinances that are under consideration now. If passed, Perris will be the 1st city in the IE to have any local ordinance that protects renters.