Earlier this month, the Lopez Community Land Trust (LCLT) received $100,000 from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation for its fourth affordable housing project, “Sustainable Community Homes,” currently under construction outside of Lopez Village. It will have 11 homes, two rental units, and an office/resource center.

“The money is going towards the green and sustainable aspects of the project, those things that tend to cost a little more but in the long run help create a more gentle footprint on the planet and save resources over time,” said LCLT Executive Director Sandy Bishop.

“The project is designed to address the gap between what many of the workers who live on Lopez earn and the high cost of housing,” said Marie Kurose, Senior Program Officer for the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.

“Paul Allen is a neighbor on Lopez and this is a very generous grant. We are really appreciative of our friends and neighbors on Lopez who support us,” commented Bishop. LCLT also received a $50,000 grant in 2000 for the housing project Innisfree.

The Paul Allen Family Foundation awarded a total of $11,830,000 in grants to 77 nonprofit organizations from the fall 2007 application period. The Foundation funded 46 in Washington, 20 in Oregon, two in Montana, three in Idaho, five in Alaska and one region-wide grant.

The Foundation first gave to a non-profit in the San Juans in 1997, awarding one to the San Juan Nature Institute.

To date, the Foundation has awarded $1.7 million in grants to San Juan County.