2025 Year in Review
At One Roof, we believe in the power of home, because we’ve seen how it transforms lives. When families have secure and reliable places to live, parents have the energy to focus on their children’s needs. Kids attend school more consistently and have greater academic success. Employees are more productive and engaged. Our community is healthier.
An affordable and stable home isn’t just shelter; it’s the foundation for physical, mental, and economic well-being. We watched these truths unfold again and again in 2025 across our community as families like “Sarah’s” found their footing and their future.
Community Land Trust: Building Stability & Wealth
Sarah grew up in a neighborhood marked by violence. After her daughter’s friend was killed by stray gunfire, she knew it was time to leave. She packed up her two girls and moved to Duluth with little more than hope for a safer life. They lived out of their car, then in a shelter, then rented for several years. In 2025, Sarah became the first person in her family to own a home, a One Roof Community Land Trust (CLT) home where her daughters can grow up with the safety and stability they deserve.
Sarah is one of 36 families and individuals who moved into Land Trust homes last year, tying our all-time annual record! These included 14 new construction homes (many with high-efficiency designs and solar panels that lower utility costs), 10 acquisition rehabs, and 12 resales. With these additions, One Roof now stewards 385 permanently affordable CLT homes, with each offering stability and opportunity for low- to moderate-income households for generations to come.
This impact extends far beyond the initial purchase. Through more than 260 CLT home resales, the Land Trust program has recycled over $25 million in investment back into future homes. And since 2021, homeowners who sold their CLT homes earned an average of $40,000 in equity, often using those proceeds to transition into market-rate homeownership.
Altogether, One Roof’s Community Land Trust has now served 640 households, each gaining not just a house, but a stable home and a more secure future. It’s a model that protects housing affordability in the community while helping families build meaningful wealth.
Tenant Landlord Connection: Preventing Displacement, Preserving Stability
Housing stability doesn’t only come through homeownership. For hundreds of renters in our community, staying securely housed means navigating complex tenant-landlord relationships, understanding their rights, and resolving conflicts before they escalate.
In 2025, our Tenant Landlord Connection (TLC) program supported 789 households, including 655 tenants building positive rental histories and 134 landlords working toward successful tenancy outcomes. Through early intervention and mediation, the TLC helped 29 households avoid eviction, keeping families in their homes and preventing the financial and emotional strain of displacement.
Behind each of those 29 eviction preventions is a family who stayed in their home, kids who didn’t have to change schools, and parents who could maintain their jobs. The TLC’s neutral mediation offers a path forward that’s faster, less costly, and more constructive than the court system, benefiting both renters and landlords.
Ready to Rent classes offered by the TLC helped tenants establish and rebuild their rental histories, while Landlord Workshops ensured property owners were informed about fair housing requirements and best practices. As demand for stable rental housing continues to grow, the TLC remains a vital resource that strengthens relationships and keeps more community members securely housed.
Homebuyer Education & Counseling: Opening Doors to Opportunity
For many aspiring homeowners, the path to purchasing a home can feel overwhelming, especially in today’s competitive market. Our Homebuyer Education and Counseling programs exist to meet people where they are and help them take confident, informed steps toward homeownership.
In 2025, 150 households engaged in one-on-one homebuyer counseling, receiving personalized guidance on budgeting, credit improvement, mortgage readiness, and navigating a fast-moving housing market. Counselors worked alongside clients to create action plans, answer questions, and provide support at every stage. Additionally, 248 households completed our Home Stretch homebuyer education workshops, gaining a comprehensive understanding of the entire homebuying process.
Of those who participated in individual counseling and education workshops, at least 100 households are known to have purchased a home. Each purchase represents a household building equity and investing in long-term financial security, strengthening both families and our community. Every successful purchase is a story of preparation meeting opportunity, showing that with the right guidance, the dream of homeownership can become a reality.
Down Payment Assistance, Purchase Assistance, & Lending: Removing Barriers to Homeownership & Home Repairs
Sometimes the difference between owning a home or not comes down to a bit of assistance with the down payment or purchase. For others, the inability to access traditional bank financing prevents them from making critical home repairs or modifications. For many households, these barriers aren’t a reflection of readiness or responsibility, but of limited access to generational wealth, traditional lending, or affordable credit. Without targeted support, families are often forced to delay homeownership or live in homes that no longer meet their needs.
In 2025, our Down Payment Assistance and Purchase Assistance programs helped 36 households bridge that final gap and realize their dreams of homeownership. For these families, timely financial support removed the last obstacle standing between them and a place to call their own. One Roof Community Lending also provided low and no-interest home rehabilitation loans to 52 homeowners, most of whom did not meet traditional lending requirements. These loans enabled them to make repairs and accessibility modifications to keep their homes safe and livable.
Multifamily Development: Meeting Community Needs
One Roof’s work also extends to creating and preserving affordable housing at scale. In 2025, our multifamily development efforts focused on stabilizing existing housing, advancing innovative solutions, and protecting long‑term affordability for community members.
In Grand Marais, emergency repairs were completed at Birchwood Apartments, a 24‑unit complex that represents some of the community’s only affordable rental housing. This work stabilized the property and allowed residents to remain safely housed while setting the stage for full rehabilitation beginning in 2026.
Planning and development also advanced on Brae View, an innovative project in Duluth’s Central Hillside that will combine 72 units of much-needed affordable senior housing with a ground‑floor child care center that will serve over 100 children. Developed in partnership with Essentia Health and the Duluth YMCA, Brae View is set to meet two critical needs: affordable housing for seniors and access to high‑quality childcare for families, while providing opportunities for intergenerational connection. Work completed in 2025 has positioned this project to break ground this year.
Behind the scenes, 2025 was also a pivotal year for Faith Haven, a 123‑unit affordable senior housing community in West Duluth. More than $10 million in funding from Minnesota Housing was recently awarded to support a full rehabilitation of the building, including accessibility upgrades, improved mechanical systems, and updated living spaces—all while preserving affordability for residents. This investment protects a critical source of affordable housing that our community cannot afford to lose.
Thank You
Each number in this newsletter represents a household finding stability, safety, and hope in 2025. That’s what’s possible when we invest in our community together. As we move forward in 2026, we remain steadfast in our mission: ensuring that everyone in our community has the opportunity to attain a safe and stable home. Thank you for making this work possible—we couldn’t have done it without you!