In celebrating the opening of the 100 Sixth Street property last month, Congressman Jared Huffman awarded CLAM and our partners a Certificate of Special Recognition. The certificate celebrates a milestone for affordable housing in West Marin by recognizing the community’s efforts to keep displaced families in West Marin.

Even though Congressman Huffman handed the award to me, it belongs equally to the strategic partners named in the certificate — the County of Marin, West Marin Fund, Marin Community Foundation, and individual donors.

And, as I looked out at the audience, I clearly saw that it also belongs to each of you in the West Marin community..

Cast of Thousands, Too Many to Name

Given the magnitude of the 100 Sixth Street project as part of the larger emergency rehousing effort, members of our community played a thousand roles, and for that, we have immense gratitude.

This award is for you, whether you voiced your support for the project with the County Board of Supervisors or made a major philanthropic gift to stabilize the displaced families — and every single action in between.

July 8 was a day of celebration. When we gathered after hearing the remarks made by public and private partners, it was great to reconnect with so many people who contributed to this shared effort.

This is indeed a cast of thousands, with an amazing array of contributions — serving as interns for Marin County Supervisors and State assembly members, building grassroots support for the County’s emergency shelter declaration, writing articles in the Point Reyes Light to inform and educate our community, providing early philanthropic commitments from Marin Community Foundation and West Marin Fund. And more: drafting paperwork for a low-interest $5M bridge loan from Marin Community Foundation, submitting the $2 million federal appropriations request for workforce housing, providing essential case management and tenant transitional support through West Marin Community Services. And still more: engaging with Seashore households to determine families’ needs through the West Marin Organizing Project (formerly FAR). These are huge accomplishments — bravo!

I have the pleasure of working every day with the CLAM staff and Board of Trustees, who are working tirelessly to build relationships here in West Marin, over the hill in San Rafael and the greater Bay Area, on to Sacramento, and across the country to Washington, DC. Affordable housing is a challenging issue that is increasingly top of mind for a majority of people in America and, in turn, our elected officials — and the challenge is only growing.

Our achievements are made possible by CLAM’s visionary founders, the leaders who followed in their footsteps, and every CLAM member who has shown support over the past 25 years. They built a solid affordable housing framework rooted in community land trust principles and showed us what’s possible when a very passionate and talented community-led organization comes together and works without wavering to strengthen the community they cherish.

Today I am witnessing collaboration and cooperation at a scale that continues to grow among diverse contributors with a common interest in affordable housing. Together, we are finding ways to combine local grassroots investment with support from the state and federal government and philanthropic institutions.

Your Trust in CLAM

Each individual and organization that supported the 100 Sixth Street property and our broader emergency response took a leap of faith. You placed your trust in us from the very start, when the affordable housing crisis was already a major challenge. Then we needed to reach down deep to find new ways as a community to resolve this acute, mass displacement crisis with very little time to develop solutions.

As a small nonprofit being asked to move at a nearly impossible place, the families facing displacement faced incredible hardship and uncertainty. As the people we ultimately serve, our residents are the ones who matter most to us. The households that faced displacement from the Seashore and Martinelli ranches placed their trust in CLAM. They deserve recognition for their own perseverance and tenacity during this transition, all the while holding onto hope that the West Marin community would respond to their needs. With all hands on deck, across the community, its organizations, and the County — we all stepped up, and I am so proud of what we achieved.

“You want to know how to solve affordable housing in this country? It’s community. It’s all of us taking stake in the places we live, for the neighbors we live beside, to stand up and do everything we can to make a difference. And that difference actually does work.”

— Rhea Suh, President and CEO, Marin Community Foundation, in her remarks at the 100 Sixth Street opening

Looking Ahead

Beyond celebration, July 8 was a day for us all to look ahead to CLAM’s programs that will provide permanent affordable housing for those currently in interim solutions. As we broaden our focus to permanent housing for these families and many others who seek housing in our coastal communities, we’re driven by our original mission of preserving economic and social diversity in West Marin through expanding access to stable housing and homeownership.

Please take a moment to read Jared Huffman’s words below, which he addresses to all of us, and know how much we need, rely on, and appreciate your support for our common cause of affordable housing. You give us strength.

Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition Presented to CLAM

“In celebration of the opening of the 6th and B Housing Community in Point Reyes Station and the culmination of the effort to keep displaced ranch families in West Marin. Developed by the Community Land Trust Association of West Marin (CLAM) with support from the County of Marin, West Marin Fund, Marin Community Foundation, Federal Community Project Funding, and individual donors, this represents a pivotal milestone for affordable housing in West Marin. The project meets the urgent needs of individuals and families with timely, local solutions and establishes a path to permanent affordable housing. The 6th and B Housing Community strengthens the local economy and keeps the fabric of this community intact. Congratulations on this significant accomplishment.“