Las Palmas Land Trust was founded in 2022 by residents of the 605 Trailer Park, along with their friends and supporters, in response to a crisis of rising rents and lack of employment options, especially for the immigrant community.
We raised $25,000 in 2022, and used these funds to help several families access homes. One family made a down payment in 2022, and a second family closed on a home in 2023. In 2024 we helped a third family build permanent housing attached to another home.
In 2025, we are pursuing funding to purchase more land, and build or renovate more housing. We are collaborating with Living Energy Farm, also in Louisa, to design housing that is energy-efficient, and incorporates solar and storage systems. In our county, power outages are common, and solar energy systems can provide life-saving heat and water services during outages.
Our vision is to build low-cost, energy efficient, permanent housing for our underhoused community members. We would build our first project as a model that could be used both to create more housing here as we get funding, as well as to facilitate planning for similar housing in other places. We are currently seeking partners for planning, land acquisition, construction, and management.
