Affordable Housing

NVP has found that affordable housing is one of the most important concerns for families as well as seniors in the Naugatuck Valley Community.

In 1991, The Naugatuck Valley Project developed Brookside, a resident-owned housing cooperative to preserve affordable, stable housing and strengthen community control over local land. By converting underused or at-risk properties into cooperative ownership, Brookside provides long-term, democratically governed homes where residents share responsibility for maintenance, governance, and decision-making.

The Brookside Housing Cooperative is a Community Land Trust which consists of six limited equity housing cooperatives. Five housing cooperatives consist of 18 units (3 buildings total) and the sixth is 12 units (2 buildings total), each with a combined 102 permanently affordable units of 2, 3 and 4 bedrooms. Some of the units were designed for accessibility to meet the needs of the disabled. These co-ops are still among the most affordable apartments in the state, lowering barriers to homeownership for disadvantaged communities.

Furthermore, each association is governed according to “one-apartment | one vote”, allowing the cooperatives to be self-managed, with residents holding democratic voting power over their long-term vision and short-term immediate needs. Although these six cooperatives are on the same parcel of land, each possesses their own distinct organizational cultures.

This model continues to stabilize neighborhoods, prevents displacement, and expands access to affordable housing in the Naugatuck Valley region (and beyond), supporting economic diversity and community resilience across all municipalities in Connecticut

NVP’s Housing Opportunity Now! Committee is working with several regional and national faith organizations to initiate urban/suburban affordable housing development projects for families and senior citizens. We have received statewide attention for this work, with ongoing discussions regarding how our housing cooperatives-community land trust model can be replicated for tackling the housing crisis both city and statewide.

What we’ve accomplished together:

In 1991, NVP developed Brookside, a Housing Cooperative of 102 units of permanently affordable, cooperatively-owned housing.

In 2025, NVP protected the Brookside Housing Cooperatives from a major tax hike, threatening affordability for lower income residents. See national media coverage in Shelterforce.