30 Years Young and Going Strong!
A conversation with Susan Stott about affordable housing is full of energy and passion. “Housing should be a right, not a privilege,” she will forcefully proclaim when asked her view on affordable housing. And that was the essence of her motivation to create Andover Community Trust— the first nonprofit in Andover focused on building permanently affordable homes in market-rate neighborhoods— 30 years ago this month.
“Housing should be a right, not a privilege.”
In 1990, Susan was a member of the Andover Planning Board, working on the housing element of the Town Master Plan. She heard about the first national Community Land Trust (CLT) conference which was being held in Burlington, Vermont. She and Town Planner, Laura DeGroot, headed north and absorbed everything the conference had to offer. They realized a CLT was the ideal tool in Andover to preserve affordable housing in perpetuity.
Susan gathered members of her Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Andover, congregation along with community members with skills in legal, finance, and construction. Together these visionaries drafted bylaws and Andover Community Trust (ACT) obtained non-profit status in February 1992!
Now it was simply a matter of finding construction skills and land— no small challenge in a suburban town with rapidly rising land prices. On the construction side, Susan realized we had a gem right here in town. She met with John LaVoie, then head of the home building program at Greater Lawrence Technical School (GLTS), and together they agreed ACT and GLTS would make a fabulous partnership.
A second partnership was also envisioned from the start as well. Margot Bixby, founder of Greater Lawrence Habitat for Humanity, shared insights with Susan on affordable housing and nonprofits and at the end of their conversation Margot added, “It’s my dream to see a Habitat home right here in Andover.”
Today John is Superintendent at the GLTS, and ACT has two building partners: GLTS, which has built six of ACT’s permanently affordable homes and Habitat, which is completing four on Stott Circle and finally realizing Margot’s dream to have a Habitat home right here in Andover— four actually.
Throughout its 30 years, ACT has grown from an all-volunteer organization to employing a part-time executive director. And ACT’s mission has expanded from home construction and advocacy to include monitoring resales, managing lotteries of affordable units, administering the rental and mortgage assistance program on behalf of the town of Andover and advocating for environmental sustainability in low- and moderate-income housing.
“Each time a modest home is torn down and replaced, or remodeled to double its size, we become less economically diverse,” Susan declares, “We must continue to be a strong advocate for affordable housing in Andover, and ensure the Town preserves the affordability of all existing units, including the 167 units at Andover Commons. There is still much work to be done.”
