Pilot Stage Grant Recipient: Community Investment Trusts
Doing Development Differently in Metro Detroit received a $86,922 Pilot Stage grant in July 2023
Lead Organization: Doing Development Differently in Metro Detroit (D4)
Collaborator(s): MACC Development, GenesisHOPE, West Vernor Parking Solutions Collaborative, Cutting Edge Counsel
Contact Name: Sam Butler, Sam@MetroDetroitD4.org, 313-986-1725
Focus Area: Community wealth-building
Community Investment Trusts (CITs) are a financial and organizational structure designed to empower and involve local communities in the ownership and development of real estate projects, providing a unique opportunity for both building wealth and community power. Doing Development Differently in Metro Detroit aims to proliferate the use of community investment trusts (CITs) in Detroit in a manner that is financially safe and accessible for low-income residents. As an emerging tool to encourage community ownership of real estate, CITs not only build wealth in low-income communities of color but also increase resident retention in neighborhoods.
Highlights
Pilot Stage Objectives
Doing Development Differently in Metro Detroit (D4) will work with two Detroit neighborhoods to develop methods for residents to invest in nearby development projects. At the end of the Pilot phase, D4 and its community partners will have formed community investment legal entities in each pilot area that are ready to receive community capital.
Over the course of the Pilot Stage, D4 will:
- Conduct extensive community engagement around forming the CIT entities and structuring each CIT’s governing bylaws, including decisions like membership cost and pay schedules, etc.
- Document their findings, recommendations and processes into a CIT toolkit to provide a step-by-step process that can be implemented by other groups in Detroit.
Research Questions & Evaluation
As part of their Pilot Stage grant, the CIT project is participating in a third-party evaluation conducted by University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions. This evaluation process is designed to help project leaders measure the success of their pilot, consider learnings from the implementation process and apply those learnings to their plans for growth. Among several questions to be explored during the Pilot Stage are:
- How practical and replicable is the CIT process for other community development projects?
- How many local groups are interested in implementing CITs?
- Who is being contacted versus who is engaging in the process?
- What level of input has D4 gathered from the community during the development of the CIT entities?
Findings will be shared at the end of the Pilot Stage (September 2024). Come back soon to read about early learnings from implementation.
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