Browse Films

Three tenacious and visionary communities deliver the American dream of owning a home to low-income residents. It has been over 40 years since leaders of the southern civil rights movement formed the first community land trust to secure access to land for African-Americans. This equitable and sustainable model of affordable housing and community development has since become a critical tool in preventing rampant foreclosures and land price speculation while stimulating revitalization without gentrification.

Through the personal stories of community activists in Durham, North Carolina, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Burlington, Vermont, audiences are compelled to rethink their assumptions about housing and community development in the United States.

The most effective and inspiring visual portrayal of community land trusts that we have. It is widely used by CLT activists, housing professionals, and community organizers to educate people about the model and to spur the creation of new CLTs around the country.
John Emmeus Davis, Dean
National Community Land Trust Academy

The principles embodied in community land trusts and brought to life in this powerful film are lessons that should be incorporated into all federal, state and municipal housing initiatives.
Rachel B. Bratt, Professor and Chair, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy
Tufts University

We frequently show Homes & Hands to groups of neighborhood residents and find it never fails to move and inspire people who tend to feel disenfranchised and left out of the planning process. They see that they can actually take matters into their own hands and have an impact on their communities.
Hank Herrera, Planner
Northeast Neighborhood Alliance Community Land Corporation, Rochester, NY

Highly Recommended. Groups thinking about forming a community land trust will want this video. Moreover, this interesting video would be of value to public library collections, particularly in urban environments. In addition, academic libraries will find this video valuable for urban planning classes.
Charles H. Burkart, Audiovisual Library, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
MC Journal: The Journal for Academic Media Librarianship
full review

An extraordinarily informative and inspiring film that presents a clear and vivid description of how land trusts work and why they are an attractive mechanism for providing affordable housing and developing strong communities. A terrific teaching resource for courses in urban studies, housing and community development.
William M. Rohe, Professor, Department of City and Regional Planning
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

More Reviews

AWARDS & SCREENINGS:

• CINE Golden Eagle
• Silver Apple, National Educational Video Festival
• Certificate of Creative Excellence, U.S. International Film and Video Festival

Resource Web Sites

National Community Land Trust Network

Resources to Download

Download Here