FSPA supports permanent, affordable housing in Coulee Region

Sister Anita Beskar has been involved with the Coulee Community Land Trust project via her role as chair of the La Crosse County Housing Commission since its inception in 2003. She retired in May 2009 with a surprise luncheon held to honor her ministry. Now residing at the Marywood Franciscan Spirituality Center in Arbor Vitae, Wis., where she serves the community’s hospitality and cooking needs, Sister Anita recently paused to revisit the gifts of hope that the FSPA and other La Crosse area groups have been building for the disenfranchised with housing needs.

Perspectives: What was your involvement with the La Crosse Community Housing Commission?
Sister Anita: My role was to facilitate meetings for the commission and its involvement in the Coulee Community Land Trust program. One of the contributions they felt I gave was inviting many groups to the table, letting go of their turfs to work together. This affirmed my/FSPA’s involvement in the project.

Perspectives: Can you explain how FSPA became involved in the housing commission, and how it, Couleecap and the Coulee Community Land Trust (CLT) program interact?
Sister Anita: It began with the Wisconsin Council of Churches and a state-wide strategy to call faith-based groups to action on housing issues. We identified the most significant gaps in housing accessibility as well as residential accommodations for those aging out of foster care. The La Crosse County Housing Committee was the outcome.

The work of the commission resulted in state funding of a grant to the Westby, Wis.-based Couleecap, a nonprofit agency that empowers the marginalized with confidence and self-sufficiency and provides rental assistance to the mentally disabled. We began making a difference when we pooled our fundraising efforts.

Perspectives: How does the FSPA ministry grant support the land trust project?
Sister Anita: Three years ago the commission sought to extend affordable housing to low- to middle-income first-time homebuyers and began to investigate the community land trust model. The CLT is given or purchases properties (often foreclosures) and either builds new or rehabs existing homes, sells the house to qualified homebuyers and retains the land in the trust using a process called “shared-appreciation.” This arrangement ensures that, at the time of a future sale, the land trust preserves a percentage of the appreciation in the property to keep it affordable for the next moderate income buyer.

Our regional project (which includes Crawford, Vernon, La Crosse and Monroe counties) is one of 300 nationwide offshoots of the national program. We had the advantage of reviewing existing models like the one in Rochester, Minn., and were able to avoid the complications that other groups encountered.
The ministry grant given by FSPA to the land trust program helped to finance resources like a community housing and development consultant, legal counsel that established a lawful framework for the CLT and support staff that performed outreach to establish community partnerships and networks for better collaboration. With these needs met we were off and running.

FSPA also gave a significant, interest-free, five-year loan to the Coulee Housing Development Corporation which collaborates with Couleecap for housing development. The funds have been a lifeline, providing gap financing that has saved projects from collapse.

It’s unbelievable how quickly the program developed and how many properties the land trust has acquired. La Crosse and Vernon County Habitat groups want to place their future homes in this land trust. Couleecap is working with six other interested groups, communities and donors who wish to help with the land trust.

Perspectives: You received Couleecap’s People Helping People award in 2007 for your work with the
La Crosse County Housing Commission and the land trust program. You were also honored in May 2009 with a surprise luncheon upon your retirement. What did this recognition mean to you?
Sister Anita: The People Helping People award was the first given by Couleecap. I was one of three recipients.
When I retired this spring they invited me to lunch. Upon arriving I was taken aback by the cake and the people there—among them Couleecap Executive Director Grace Jones and Wisconsin Sen. Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse.

Both honors surprised and touched me. The recognition was not only for me but also for the presence of FSPA—our perceived value in the community and tangible engagement in issues that affect people’s lives. For that I’m so proud.

Perspectives: What does FSPA hope for the land trust program in the future?
Sister Anita: Our desire is for systemic change. In the past, public funds were available to a select few qualified individuals only. This new model builds a portfolio of affordable housing that invites more people to experience the self-dignity of home-ownership.

We also hope for sustained community partnerships. This phenomenal grassroots effort has been truly effective, engaging local banks, realtors and builders; all told, about 40 organizations from both the private and public sector— Couleecap, Habitat for Humanity, Workforce Connections Building Opportunities program, members of the federal group Legal Action (plenty of pro bono legal assistance has been provided), the La Crosse County Housing Authority and the city of La Crosse.

I gained far more than I gave to this group. The land trust program reflects great faith; I came away from our meetings totally inspired by the quality of the communal experience and for the concerns for the disempowered.

If we can help people move into a different socioeconomic class with a home and the means to maintain it, that’s empowerment.