On a cold day in January 2026, volunteers and outreach workers were stationed across Central Oregon to meet with our neighbors who live houseless in order to include each in the official Point in Time Count (PIT). For the first time, with this year’s count, our region recorded a decline in this census; there were 19% fewer homeless Central Oregonians than in the previous year. Our region is filling in the shelter and housing gaps we’ve experienced for many years because of the support of state and local government and a steady group of non-profit organizations dedicated to the cause. Rooted Homes is one of the recent additions to the list of solutions.
In 2003, Eliza Wilson was a 16 year-old living houseless alone in Central Oregon. Wilson’s family had been homeless since she could remember. She was savvy, knew the system, and found her way to a new, safe shelter for teens called the LOFT (Living Options for Teens) which was opened and is still operated by J Bar J’s Cascade Youth and Family Center program. At the LOFT, Wilson met Mel Anderson, a staffer and young mother who was pioneering the J Bar J Outreach Program. Anderson is a third generation Bendite who has grappled with the realities of a growing region that can often seem to set aside the people who have built it. She chose to be a part of the solution early on.
As part of her goals, Wilson spent volunteer hours working with Anderson’s outreach program, meeting with fellow teens living unsheltered to help them prepare themselves for shelter and next steps. Each woman made a lasting impression on the other and over the years they both remained involved in work to combat homelessness in their hometown.
Fast forward to today.
Wilson is now the Executive Director at Rooted Homes, which is a community land trust model for home ownership for low-income community members. Anderson works on Wilson’s staff as the Housing Access Director.
Land trusts are nonprofit organizations that hold the title to land and include persons with vested interest in the management thereof. In the case of Rooted Homes, they are a land trust that can support communities in addressing housing gaps by providing resources as well as protecting investments like land for homeownership, rental housing, shelters, and commercial space for community work. The organization owns land, builds homes, and manages property through homeowner associations. Potential homeowners qualify through meeting income criteria and obtaining a traditional mortgage product. When someone purchases a Rooted Homes residence, they are buying the building and leasing the land - usually for a period of 99 years. Removing the land value from the transaction allows for an affordable mortgage payment.
For land trust homeowners, not only are monthly payments lower than most rental properties, they also don’t fluctuate the way rents can and no one can sell the home out from under them.
Stability.
Given her background and many years working with community members living houseless, Wilson was concerned that this position was too far removed from “her world”. Even though now a homeowner herself and knowing what she knows about the land trust model, home ownership still seemed like a luxury out of reach. Yet the community feel and the proof that the model works has made her a strong proponent. She reflects, “If your kids are in school, they’re in class with homeless kids like me and my siblings.” The idea of creating neighborhoods that brought people together in stability, with a variety of backgrounds, and who have had similar vulnerabilities is a key motivator for Wilson.
Anderson’s work with Rooted Homes includes visiting people who are currently homeless and providing them pathways to shelter and housing. She notes, “I’ve spent a lot of my career helping people get through the front door. What feels different about this work is having the opportunity to help someone build toward a future on the other side of that door. It is about creating a pathway where people can move from crisis, to stability, to security, and ultimately to the possibility of owning a home.”
One of those who has moved through the stages and into a Rooted Homes residence is Christian Martinez. Martinez had only known homelessness, parents in jail, and then a young life of incarceration. During his last stint in prison, he made the mental switch and began reading self-help and business management books. He learned how to build credit.
Upon his release, he had the good fortune to be matched with a housing navigator at NeighborImpact who told him about Rooted Homes. Even though he works several jobs and follows a budget, he “thought that this was so far out of reach. So many times I wanted to give up and lose hope. Rooted Homes stayed on top of it. They were patient with me and always available,” Martinez says. He had every reason to lose hope. Prison releases usually involve a bus ticket and no plan. Many return to or become homeless. Others return to incarceration.
Because our region now has a broader offering of shelter and housing options, including the elusive homeownership, Martinez could have hope. Since 2020, in the City of Bend alone there are 628 more affordable housing units (rental and ownership) and over 500 more shelter beds. So now Martinez can provide his children with their own room and a short walk to their school. Martinez can offer them something he never had — a community and a home.
Thinking of their lives coming together in this way after so many years, Wilson and Anderson simultaneously well up with tears. Wilson recalls that, “Someone at the LOFT asked me where I wanted to go to college. No one had ever brought that up before. I was 17 and first hearing this was a possibility.” She likens this to how our low-income community members feel about homeownership —- just like Martinez did, that it was not even in the realm of possibility.
“Being able to play a small part in this journey feels incredibly special, especially in a community that my family loves and has called home for generations,” says Anderson.
You can play a part, too. Rooted Homes accepts monetary donations that assist with land acquisition, staffing, and homeownership preparedness. You can also donate property that can become a part of a land trust model. Learn more at RootedHomes.org.
Learn more about affordable housing in Bend at: bendoregon.gov/departments/community-development/housing/affordable-housing
"It is about creating a pathway where people can move from crisis, to stability, to security, and ultimately to the possibility of owning a home."
—Mel Anderson, Rooted Homes Housing Access Director
"So many times I wanted to give up and lose hope. Rooted Homes stayed on top of it. They were patient with me and always available."
–Christian Martinez, Rooted Homes Homeowner