As housing prices continue to rise across North Texas, leaders in housing, philanthropy, banking and community development gathered Tuesday at the Amon Carter Center at Lena Pope for a panel hosted by the Fort Worth Community Land Trust to discuss the future of affordable homeownership in Fort Worth and the partnerships needed to protect working families from displacement.
J.T. Aughinbaugh, Vice Chair of JPMorganChase’s Market Leadership Team in North Texas, delivered remarks to kick off the event while the panel discussion featured Becky Bass, executive director of the Fort Worth Community Land Trust; Donna VanNess, President of Housing Channel, Jeremy Smith, president of the Rainwater Charitable Foundation; and Maggie J. Parker, founder of Innovan Neighborhoods, a Dallas-based development firm focused on affordable housing, small business-centered projects and community-driven revitalization efforts across Dallas-Fort Worth.
The panel, moderated by Michelle Thomas, head of philanthropy for JPMorganChase in Texas, focused on rising housing costs, property taxes, workforce housing, public-private partnerships and how community land trusts can create long-term pathways to generational wealth and neighborhood stability.
The event also celebrated two major milestones for the mission: the expansion of Carroll Park, a planned South Fort Worth development expected to include more than 200 permanently affordable homes, and the story of Ashley Guinn, the first homeowner to purchase through the Fort Worth Community Land Trust model.
“We cannot create more land”
For many panelists, the conversation around housing affordability was deeply personal…