PHOTO PROVIDED From left to right, Commissioner Amber Concepcion, Commissioner Chair Mark Higgins, State College Community Land Trust Executive Director Colleen Ritter and Commissioner Steve Dershem at Tuesday, March 3, 2026’s county commissioners meeting where the 30th anniversary of the founding of the SCCLT was recognized.

BELLEFONTE — As local home prices continue to outpace wage growth, the Centre County Commissioners this week advanced a slate of agreements to preserve long-term affordability while recognizing three decades of contributions to that effort by the State College Community Land Trust.

At their meeting, commissioners praised the nonprofit’s record of creating permanently affordable homes and approved emergency rental assistance-related memorandums covering more than a dozen residences countywide.

Founded in 1996 when the average home price in State College hovered in the low $100,000 range, the State College Community Land Trust (SCCLT) now operates in a market where homes routinely exceed $400,000 — a shift Executive Director Colleen Ritter called emblematic of a broader housing crisis.

“Wages have not kept up with inflation for many working families, like teachers, healthcare workers and service workers,” Ritter told the commissioners. “For young professionals just starting out, affordable housing and home ownership have moved out of reach.”

“That’s the reality of the housing crisis here, and that’s why our work matters,” she added.

Over the past 30 years, SCCLT has created and stewarded 57 permanently affordable homes and helped 85 families achieve homeownership.

“Thats more than 367 adults and children who have been able to put down roots in this community,” Ritter said.

The organization operates under a community land trust model: retaining ownership of the land beneath homes it renovates while selling the structures to income-qualified buyers. Homeowners lease the land and, when they sell, must do so at a restricted price to another income-eligible buyer. The community ownership model ensures perpetual affordability while allowing local families to build equity.

Commissioner Amber Concepcion said the land trust plays a critical role in the broader housing ecosystem by providing homeownership opportunities for people facing housing insecurity or would otherwise be priced out of State College.

“This is a pretty unique and creative solution to make sure we have some stock of homes that are permanently affordable and that help people who are part of our local workforce. We need people to live proximate to their employment, and this is part of that,” Concepcion said.

With support from the commissioners through Emergency Rental Assistance Program 2 (ERAP2) funds, SCCLT recently built two permanently affordable one-bedroom rental units as part of a larger 10-unit project. The land trust will retain ownership of the land, ensuring these rentals remain affordable long term, just as it does with homes it sells.

“We are proud of what we’ve accomplished over the last 30 years, and we are committed to continuing the work ensuring Centre County remains a place where working families can live, work and thrive,” said Ritter.

SCCLT’s project, while significant, represents just a small portion of a larger affordable housing initiative affecting multiple properties across the county.

At the same meeting, Faith Ryan, Centre County’s Director of Human Services, presented seven memorandums of understanding tied to the second Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP2).

The agreements formalize compliance, reporting and tenant-tracking requirements for six organizations that received ERAP2 funding to support home construction, acquisition and rehabilitation projects in the county. The requirements ensure the homes will remain affordable through December 2045.

“This is the final piece of the puzzle for those projects,” Ryan said.

In total, the agreements cover 13 affordable residences around the county, including acquisition work through the Acres Project; construction by Anchor Mae Investments LLC, the Nastase Trailer Park redevelopment and SCCLT; and rehabilitation by Strawberry Fields Inc. and two projects with the Philipsburg Revitalization Corporation.

Moreover, the community is invited to celebrate SCCLT’s 30th anniversary. The organization will host an art exhibit at 3Dots Downtown in State College on Friday, April 3, from 6 to 8 p.m.

A final item at the commissioners’ meeting included notice of a sponsorship that will have CNET–the county’s government and education access network–record and make available a taping of a local Housing Summit. Scheduled for today, the summit will bring together representatives from Centre County Government, the Chamber of Business and Industry, the Centre County Housing Task Force and other local stakeholders to discuss the future of housing for the county workforce and residents with low incomes.

Morgan Boyd, special assistant to the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, and Brian Hudson of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, are slated to speak, offering state-level insight into housing policy and initiatives.