CCHD funds housing

Roger Markovics speaks slowly and carefully when discussing the slogan of the Albany Community Land Trust.

"'Individual Ownership on Community Land,'" he reads off a homemade poster depicting the work the organization has done in the urban streets of Albany. The project is among the thousands supported across the U.S. by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD).

Mr. Markovics, secretary of the Land Trust, has worked with this project for decades. "My wife (Maria) and I have been involved since 1970," he said. "The Land Trust was developed halfway through our work."

The Markovices established the United Tenants of Albany as a grass-roots community organization. The group advocates and organizes on behalf of tenants and for code enforcements and other housing causes. 

To the rescue
When difficulties arose in the 1980's, the Catholic Church came to the aid of Mr. Markovics.

"Certain financial and land issues led to the community loan fund in the '80s," he said. The Albany Diocese, using funds from CCHD, helped established the Capital District Community Loan Fund to finance home ownership and increase the stock of housing for low-income residents. 

This fund, which originally brought in $82,000 a year, is now up to $10 million and has helped promote and provide affordable housing in the region significantly. It has also recruited many groups to pitch in and get involved. Using CCHD funds, the Land Trust purchased a brick townhouse on Trinity Place in Albany's South End and sold it to Emmaus House, the Albany Catholic Worker community. The land trust continues to own the land under the house.

"Fred Boehrer and his wife, Diana (Conroy), live there and have been for some time now," said Mr. Markovics.

The Conroy-Boehrer family are not the only residents of the house. With help from a wide range of friends and donors, they provide housing and other support to scores of people in need. 

"We welcome families that are homeless to stay with us until they can find a place of their own," says Mr. Boehrer. They and their three children offer a welcome atmosphere to those guests.

"We have a Mass at the house once a month, we have dinner and guest speakers who speak of matters of faith, and we do a lot of support for local immigrants," Mr. Boehrer continued. "We don't get paid for this and we don't charge anything."

When speaking of what influenced this decision, Mr. Boehrer credited the works of Dorothy Day and her commitment to living a life of mercy and non-violence.

"We both left our full-time jobs to work full-time with families who are poor," he said. 

"We received a lot of support from different parishes and many individuals and local groups. They gave us groceries and financial donations, and things like that."

Passing it on
Before moving into the house, Fred Boehrer worked as a Catholic minister and Diana Conroy ran a Catholic Charities program against domestic violence.

"We had a limited opportunity to purchase a house after quitting our jobs, obviously," Mr. Boehrer explained. "But one day we got in contact with the land trust and we discussed this building and wound up taking it."

Now, life for the Boehrer family has become a way of helping others.

"We're committed to the philosophy of the Albany Community Land Trust," Mr. Boehrer said, "to make sure that there is adequate housing for people of moderate needs."

That fits with the vision of Roger Markovics and the land trust, and the larger vision of CCHD: "It's all about getting back to the grass roots," Mr. Markovics said. "Hopefully we can continue to build and help those in need."

(11/20/08)