Streets of Dreams tells the stories of grassroots activists in communities of color around the U.S. who are using community land trusts (CLTs) to preserve the affordability of their homes, prevent displacement and shape the future of their communities.

This 16-minute video presents inspiring portraits of CLTS in New Orleans, Atlanta, Delray Beach, and Durham, providing compelling case studies for understanding how to advance community economic development in a range of economic environments.

The inspiring story of three communities that have found an empowering way to bring the American dream of owning a home to low-income residents. Community land trusts (CLTs) make housing permanently affordable by giving ownership of the land to local community groups and eliminating the usual spiral of land price speculation. Through the personal stories, tenacity and vision of community activists in Durham, North Carolina; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Burlington, Vermont, audiences are compelled to rethink their assumptions about affordable housing and community development in the United States.

Gaining Ground, a follow-up to the award-winning documentary Holding Ground (1996), shows how one diverse Boston neighborhood has managed to stem the tide against enormous odds. Building on a 25-year legacy of innovative community organizing, a new generation of Dudley Street neighborhood leaders has managed to foster hope and create opportunity in the midst of the economic meltdown.

Gaining Ground explores the innovative, grassroots organizing efforts of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI) in Boston. Over the course of two years, we watch a new generation of leaders working to prevent foreclosures and bring jobs and opportunities for young people to one of the city’s most diverse and economically challenged neighborhoods.

Holding Ground is at once a cautionary tale of urban policies gone wrong and a message of hope for all American cities.

In 1985, African-American, Latino, Cape Verdean, and European-American residents in Roxbury, MA united to revitalize their community. The Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative went on to gain national recognition as residents fought to close down illegal dumps, gain unprecedented control of land from City Hall and create a comprehensive plan to rebuild the fabric of their community. Through the voices of committed residents, activists and city officials, this moving documentary shows how a Boston neighborhood was able to create and carry out its own agenda for change.