Agraria_Journal_Summer_2022

West Dayton (Ohio) has a rich history of Black-owned businesses and real estate, but decades of disinvestment, redlining, and predatory loan policies have made it challenging for current residents to own or develop property. Despite these obstacles, community members and organizers are working to improve living conditions, address food apartheid, and advance racial justice in the neighborhood. A major victory was reached in 2021 with the opening of Gem City Market, a worker- and community-owned full-service grocery store. In addition to fresh foods, the Market offers cooking classes, a community room, and a mini health clinic. Organizers are not stopping here. One of the concerns surrounding Gem City Market and related projects is that they will make the neighborhood more attractive to outside developers and lead to gentrification, pushing out long-term residents. To get ahead of this threat, organizers formed Unified Power, a Community Land Trust (CLT) that aims to keep residents in the neighborhood by creating affordable housing and pathways to property ownership. Originally a project of Co-op Dayton, Unified Power has become an independent nonprofit, now known as Dayton Unified Power, with a community board and multiple ongoing projects. They are currently developing a 25-unit apartment complex on Salem Avenue as a real estate cooperative. Residents will be able to invest in the cooperative and have a pathway toward ownership at the Salem Avenue complex, and eventually at other properties Unified Power is planning to acquire. “Our major goal is land acquisition in scattered sites,” said Kenya Baker, executive director of Dayton Unified Power. To that end they are planning to launch capital and membership campaigns. “Our goal is to ensure individuals who have lived in the area for three generations aren’t displaced by gentrification,” said Baker. COMMUNITY LAND TRUSTS The Past and Future of a Movement BY ROSE HARDESTY 26 AGRARIA JOURNAL 2022 DAYTON UNIFIED POWER Dayton Africana Elder's Council drumming, dancing and celebrating on the Gem City Market balcony for our Blessed Are Those Who Struggle Awards Ceremony on Juneteenth 2021.