Goal: $50,000.00

Specific Need

Common Roots is reclaiming vacant and blighted Meadville property and replacing eyesores with homes of the future: homes that are smaller, energy-efficient, easy to maintain, and - most importantly - homes that are attainable for hard-working, lower-income residents who make up the majority of Meadville.

In the last three years we have provided homes to 24 households, and we currently have 30 projects in different stages of development. However, we have nearly 200 people in need of affordable homes on our interest list.

All money raised during Crawford Gives this year will go directly into the Common Roots Buy and Build Fund, which ensures that we have flexible funding to purchase property and build the homes our community needs.

Mission

Common Roots is a nonprofit, member-based organization and community land trust (CLT). Our mission is to create and steward sustainable, permanently affordable homes that build lasting wealth, security, and community for low-income people in Meadville, PA.

Profile

Do-It-Together Housing

Meadville is suffering from a lack of quality housing opportunities that ordinary people can afford. 25% of properties are blighted. Deferred maintenance is everywhere. There has been no new residential construction in decades. 70% of Meadville are rentals (compared to only 35% of Pennsylvania). 54% of Meadville are "ALICE" (asset-limited, income-constrained, employed) households who have to make difficult decisions everyday about how to make ends meet. With your support, Common Roots is going to change this situation. We're going to build the homes of the future - and the communities of the future - through our Do-It-Together housing initiatives.

Living and Learning Together

Common Roots housing cooperatives provide community and ongoing education, as residents work together to build the skills and resources they need to successfully care for their homes. Our cooperatives are supported by a range of home stewardship programming, from financial education workshops to maintenance trainings. At its core, Common Roots is a big community where residents, volunteers, supporters, and staff are living, learning, and working together to steward our homes.

Building Together

Common Roots was founded by elder tradespeople committed to rehabilitating blighted homes and training a new generation of tradespeople. We leverage the knowledge and dedication of these volunteers to build affordably and develop the workforce our community needs. Common Roots helped start Sturdy Boots, a mission-driven construction company that provides jobs for people in recovery. Through our Self-Help Housing program, we help residents rehab existing homes or build new homes of their own. This Do-It-Together, sweat equity approach to homeownership produces both affordability and community.

Developing Together

Common Roots has assembled dreamers, makers, planners, engineers, funders, and number-crunchers to help us meet our mission. In addition to our paid staff, Common Roots is training a network of homegrown, mission-aligned development partners who work with us to design projects and expand our cooperative programs.

Current Building Projects

Water Street Redevelopment Project

Common Roots is partnering with the City of Meadville Redevelopment Authority to create 12 new affordable homes on upper Water Street, an area that has been targeted for reinvestment by the city's Planning and Zoning Commission. The project will expand Common Roots' Renting Cooperative and homeownership programs while advancing the goals of the city's Housing Action Plan, which include creating new affordable housing options and increasing Meadville's homeownership rate. After a year of funding delays, we're finally moving forward on Phase 1 of the project. We're hoping to break ground this fall on the first two new duplexes at 796-798 Water Street.

Pilot Cottage and Cottage Courts

Over the past year, our team has designed a highly energy-efficient, two-bedroom cottage using steel SIPs (Structural Installated Panels) that can be built for under $75,000 via our Self-Help Housing program. Not only is this cottage affordable to build. It also will be affordable to maintain for homeowners. Routine maintenance and monthly utilities costs should be very low thanks to the building materials and affordable design. We're hoping to build two cottage courts - 3-7 cottages arranged on a single parcel with a shared courtyard - in the coming year on land we've acquired.