We write a lot about housing, from homebuilding to home sales and the housing market. This edition is no exception, but it also offers stories about the need for affordable homes for the working middle class and features a nonprofit providing housing for young adults without stable homes.

Stories like these shine a spotlight on these challenges in our community, where the median home sale price is more than $400,000.

Our state must add 1.1 million homes over the next 20 years to keep pace with expected population growth, and more than half of them need to be affordable for residents at the lowest income levels, according to a state Department of Commerce report.

To address this challenge, communities must plan for housing needs across all income brackets, including emergency housing and permanent subsidized housing with essential support services for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

There’s no easy solution to this complicated problem, but a promising new nonprofit is stepping up to try to make a difference.

Tres Rios, which means “three rivers” in Spanish, is a community land trust (CLT) aimed at keeping housing affordable. (See story here.) Though new to our area, CLTs have roots in the Civil Rights movement and arrived in Washington in the late ’80s.

CLTs decouple land prices from the cost of home ownership. They use a blend of public and private investments to acquire properties with existing homes. They then sell the homes and lease back the land.

They operate as shared equity programs, ensuring properties remain available at lower costs to enable people living in underserved communities to build up their home equity. Studies show CLTs promote housing stability by reducing loan delinquencies and default rates.

The Tri-Cities CLT effort is still in its infancy with the nonprofit seeking volunteers to get it off the ground. There are several ways to get involved as the group seeks volunteer grant writers, an attorney and experienced fundraisers, among others.

Municipal Research and Services Center, a nonprofit that helps local governments across the state with legal and policy guidance, offers suggestions on how local governments can help CLTs. They include selling or donating surplus land, applying for grants to offset the cost of extending infrastructure for new homes, permit streamlining and inclusionary zoning.

It’s clear communities must place an emphasis on home affordability. CLTs won’t solve all the housing challenges, but they’re one way to make a difference.