The Gertrude Brown CLT is a community land trust formed by community members, mutual aid organizations, unhoused individuals seeking autonomous housing, and small local businesses. Our mission is to help people who are unhoused and housing insecure in the Twin Cities secure housing, self-determination, and a center of mutual aid by acquiring land in Minneapolis and supporting the capacity to building an intentional community with radically affordable legal dwellings.
We undertake this endeavor in response to the violent evictions conducted by the city of Minneapolis. In particular, unhoused people had built strong communities on unused public land listed as property of the “Office of Community Planning and Economic Development”, and rather than negotiate to do either of those things CPED led the city-wide policy of destruction.
Our community will be self-sustaining with ongoing mutual aid support, including but not limited to; a community garden facilitated by residents, educational workshops to promote autonomous self-defense and deescalation training, wound care kit distribution and medic care, resource-share workshops, food-share, and most importantly, ensuring no monetary barriers to living on the land.