Google+

Break-even housing: West Philly cooperative house seeks community

September 23, 2015

LCAmembers

LCA members in 2014 (Facebook photo).

The Life Center Association (LCA), a community land trust in West Philadelphia, which owns several properties, is seeking a community of people – a group, a family, or families – to live in one of its houses on the 4800 block of Springfield Avenue. The house has seven bedrooms, two bathrooms, front and back yards, and a modern kitchen.

The LCA is a non-profit membership organization with a cooperative tenant management structure, where members share control of the housing as well as the responsibility for maintaining the houses. “Our goal is to acquire and hold houses permanently in order to secure access to long-term housing for community residents on a break-even basis,” reads the LCA’s announcement. 

The amount of rent, which is $2,100 per month for the house, is divided equally among the residents.

LCAMap

LCA owns eight properties in West Philly. (Click to enlarge)

“I think it is a model for the future of what Americans in this economic recession should do, in terms of learning how to live together,” the LCA member Rhone Fraser, 35, recently told Metro (check out Metro‘s story about the collective here).

Written applications are sought from groups who are committed to antiracist relationships, who are comfortable working in diverse communities, who are interested in a long-term commitment to the organization and the neighborhood, and who share the LCA’s value of social justice.

If you’re interested, check out this flier for more information and contact lca.memberservices@gmail.com for an application.

Leave a Reply

  +  32  =  40