As housing prices continue to rise across North Texas, leaders in housing, philanthropy, banking and community development gathered Tuesday at the Amon Carter Center at Lena Pope for a panel hosted by the Fort Worth Community Land Trust to discuss the future of affordable homeownership in Fort Worth and the partnerships needed to protect working families from displacement.

J.T. Aughinbaugh, Vice Chair of JPMorganChase’s Market Leadership Team in North Texas, delivered remarks to kick off the event while the panel discussion featured Becky Bass, executive director of the Fort Worth Community Land Trust; Donna VanNess, President of Housing Channel, Jeremy Smith, president of the Rainwater Charitable Foundation; and Maggie J. Parker, founder of Innovan Neighborhoods, a Dallas-based development firm focused on affordable housing, small business-centered projects and community-driven revitalization efforts across Dallas-Fort Worth.

The panel, moderated by Michelle Thomas, head of philanthropy for JPMorganChase in Texas, focused on rising housing costs, property taxes, workforce housing, public-private partnerships and how community land trusts can create long-term pathways to generational wealth and neighborhood stability.

The event also celebrated two major milestones for the mission: the expansion of Carroll Park, a planned South Fort Worth development expected to include more than 200 permanently affordable homes, and the story of Ashley Guinn, the first homeowner to purchase through the Fort Worth Community Land Trust model.

“We cannot create more land”

For many panelists, the conversation around housing affordability was deeply personal.

“When I started in development years ago, we were buying lots in Hillside and Morningside and building homes that sold for around $78,000 with down payment assistance,” said Donna VanNess, president of Housing Channel. “Today, those homes are worth more than $300,000.”

While those rising home values created wealth for earlier homeowners, VanNess acknowledged they also reveal the growing barriers many working families now face.

“If someone sells that home today for $300,000, they have to turn around and buy another one that costs the same amount,” she said. “So where are we going to create affordability for the next family?”

That challenge is one reason advocates say the community land trust model has become increasingly important.

Under the model, the trust retains ownership of the land while homeowners purchase the home itself, helping reduce upfront costs while preserving affordability long-term. Supporters argue it is one of the few models capable of addressing both rising housing costs and neighborhood displacement simultaneously.

“We cannot create more land,” VanNess said during the discussion. “Land is the value, and that’s what we have to protect to ensure lasting affordability for the future.”

Addressing gentrification, rising taxes and long-term affordability

Panelists also addressed one of the biggest concerns tied to gentrification: rapidly increasing property taxes that can eventually force longtime residents out of the very communities they helped build.

Donna VanNess, president of Housing Channel, explained that while rising property values have historically helped families build wealth, they have also created new affordability challenges for future generations.

She pointed to the reality that many homes once considered affordable in neighborhoods like Hillside and Morningside are now valued at more than $300,000 — a dramatic shift from the days when similar homes sold for under $100,000 with down payment assistance.

VanNess also highlighted how the community land trust model helps create more predictability for homeowners when it comes to taxes and long-term housing stability.

Under the model, homes appreciate at a controlled pace rather than fluctuating wildly with the open market, helping prevent homeowners from being overwhelmed by sudden spikes in appraised value and property taxes.

“So rather than looking at comps and the market going wildly up and down, there’s steady appreciation,” VanNess explained during the discussion. “We say if you were to sell your home tomorrow, this is what you can sell it for, and that’s what it’s appraised for taxes.”

She added that the model helps homeowners avoid the uncertainty that often accompanies rapid neighborhood redevelopment.

“They’re not worried about, ‘This neighborhood is gentrifying, how am I going to afford my property taxes?’” she said.

VanNess noted that Texas homeowners already face significant financial pressure tied to property taxes, making affordability protections even more critical.

“In Texas, you’re already dealing with property taxes that can increase dramatically,” she said, referencing how the model’s roughly 1.5% appreciation structure creates a more sustainable pathway for working families trying to remain in their neighborhoods long-term. We want homeowners paying back into the community. But at a rate that’s realistic and not so extreme that they could lose their home because they can’t pay taxes.” – Donna VanNess, president of Housing Channel

For advocates of the land trust model, that balance — preserving affordability while still supporting neighborhood investment and tax revenue — is essential to creating sustainable community growth without displacement.

“It takes the whole ecosystem”

Throughout the discussion, speakers repeatedly emphasized that affordable housing cannot succeed through isolated efforts alone.

“You may have one nonprofit doing this work, but not have a partnership with the city,” one moderator noted. “Or you have the city, but not the partnership with developers. It takes the whole ecosystem to make it work.”

Several panelists stressed the need to expand the pipeline of developers committed to community-centered housing initiatives.

“We need thousands of affordable housing opportunities for families,” one speaker said. “It’s going to take all of us working together to achieve that.”

That sentiment was echoed by J.T. Aughinbaugh of JPMorganChase, whose organization recently announced a $1.1 million philanthropic investment to support community-based builders and nonprofit developers working on attainable housing initiatives in Fort Worth.

“JPMorganChase is committed to the communities where we do business,” Aughinbaugh said during the event. “Fort Worth and Dallas are critical markets because of the economic growth and prosperity happening here. But it’s important to us that economic prosperity is being felt across the entire community.”

Aughinbaugh connected the initiative to the company’s broader American Dream efforts, emphasizing the importance of ensuring first-time homebuyers, low-to-moderate income earners and working families are not left behind as North Texas continues to grow.

“This issue is incredibly important to us as a firm,” he said. “Housing affordability and workforce readiness are two of the most important issues impacting the future economic prosperity of North Texas.”

He also acknowledged the complexity of the issue, stressing that no single organization can solve the housing crisis alone.

“There’s no one solution provider,” Aughinbaugh said. “That’s why it’s critically important for nonprofits, city governments, private businesses and developers to all collaborate together. It’s going to take many solutions to address a challenge this large.”

For Aughinbaugh, the moment represented more than a ceremonial announcement.

“Today was the first homeowner,” he said. “This has gone from a concept and a plan into execution happening in real life. And we see this accelerating from here.”

Ashley Guinn’s story brings the mission to life

The event’s most emotional testimony came from Ashley Guinn, a single mother and real-estate banking professional whose journey to homeownership reflected the very barriers panelists discussed throughout the afternoon.

Guinn described homeownership as “life-changing” for her family, explaining that despite having a professional background in mortgages, buying a home still felt overwhelming because of rising housing costs.

“I remember looking at the numbers and wondering, ‘How is this actually going to happen?’” Guinn said.

Originally from Texas, Guinn said remaining in Fort Worth mattered deeply because of her children’s schools, sports and community connections.

“I didn’t want to move further and further away just to find something affordable,” she said. “Home is more than just a zip code. It’s connection.”

After being introduced to the Fort Worth Community Land Trust, Guinn said the possibility of homeownership finally became real.

“This program opened a door that honestly felt impossible before,” she said. “For the first time in a long time, it truly feels like calm.”

Guinn credited her realtors, Rebecca Castro and Sandra with eXp Realty, along with the FWCLT and Housing Channel teams, for helping guide her through the process.

“What I’ve learned is this: access changes everything,” Guinn said. “When people know there are real opportunities out there, it gives them hope.”

Her story underscored what many leaders at the event believe is truly at stake in the broader housing conversation — not simply homeownership, but stability, neighborhood preservation and economic mobility for future generations.

One quote shared during the panel captured the urgency of the issue:

“Housing is the foundation of opportunity. When it’s unaffordable and out of reach, every other promise of mobility becomes harder to keep.” – Michelle Thomas,

For Fort Worth leaders working to preserve affordability, the hope is that community land trusts and collaborative housing initiatives can ensure future generations are still able to build wealth — and remain rooted — in the communities they call home.

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