McKenzie Community Land Trust

06/15/2026

The natural amphitheater of Blue River Park ~

06/11/2026

Struggling to pay your mortgage? Oregon Housing and Community Services is accepting applications for the Homeownership Assistance Fund through 8 am on June 15.

For more details, visit https://www.oregon.gov/ohcs/homeownership/Pages/Homeownership-Assistance-Fund.aspx

Learn more about the Homeowner Assistance Fund

06/01/2026

📢 IMPORTANT: Rent & Utility Assistance Deadline for Wildfire Survivors

Are you a survivor of the 2020 Labor Day wildfires? You may be eligible for temporary rent and utility assistance through the state’s Intermediate Housing Assistance (IHA) program, but you must act fast!

The deadline to apply is June 30, 2026.
🗓️ Key Details:
What: Temporary help with rent and utilities for up to 24 months.
Who: Renters who lived in Clackamas, Douglas, Jackson, Klamath, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, or Marion counties during the 2020 wildfires and had a verified loss.
New Eligibility: Eligibility has expanded to include higher income levels, so even if you didn't qualify before, you might now!

📍 How to Apply in Lane County:
If you are in Lane County, reach out to the Human Services Division immediately to start your application:
📞 Phone: 541-682-2918
📧 Email: [email protected]
🌐 Online: Lane County Human Services Division

Don't wait— the June 30th deadline is approaching quickly. Please share this post to help our neighbors stay stably housed!

05/23/2026

☀️ A Front-Row Seat to Summer

There is a special kind of magic that happens when the sun streams through the windows and hits the floors of our Rose Street homes, casting warmth across the room and framing the mountain views.

That feeling is even more profound in our Riverfront Home in Blue River. From here, you have a rare, front-row seat to the confluence where the Blue River meets the McKenzie. We are extra proud of this home—it was designed for long summer evenings, the soothing sound of the water just steps from your door, and a lifetime of peace.

With sunny views in every direction and the valley’s best scenery right outside your window, it’s more than just a house—it’s a sanctuary.

Ready to find your place in the sun?

We have only TWO opportunities left to join the Rose Street community:
1 Riverfront Home: Sitting right on the banks of the Blue River with stunning confluence views for $260,000.
1 Rose Street Homes: Modern, resilient, and newly reduced to $230,000.

Supported by the team at DevNW, we are ready to help you secure your spot on the river before the summer heat arrives.

🚀 Your Path to the River:

Step 1: Check Your Eligibility
For income qualifications and finance support, contact Rolando at [email protected].

Step 2: See the Light in Person
To schedule a showing of the riverfront home or our Rose Street home, reach out to our listing agent, Lily Barron (DevNW), at 503-930-2989.

Step 3: General Questions?
The McKenzie CLT Office is here to help! Call us at 541-514-8637 or email [email protected].

05/20/2026

🌲 COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP IN ACTION 🌲

We so appreciate the opportunity to host the board and staff of the Upper Willamette Soil & Water Conservation District for a tour around sunny Blue River! Together with representatives from the O'Brien Memorial Library - Blue River, McKenzie Community TrackTrack, and Blue River Park, we got to celebrate the tangible impact of their support and see firsthand how their green investments are truly thriving. 🏞️

Alongside Eugene Water & Electric Board’s Pure Water Partners and the McKenzie Watershed Council to name a few, the UWSWCD team has been a monumental force in rebuilding and revitalizing the McKenzie corridor. Riparian area protection, green infrastructure investments, native plantings, invasive species removal and fuel reduction, these partners have put in the time to ensure we are able to rebuild our community from the ground up . . . Literally!

Thank you all for investing in the places where our kids play, our neighbors gather, and our environment thrives! 🙌💚

05/15/2026

Rooted in the River: A Story of Home and Connection 🌲🚌

At the McKenzie Community Land Trust, we believe that a home is more than just four walls—it’s the anchor that keeps us connected to the people and places we love.

Our own Executive Director, Tabitha Eck, was featured by Lane Transit District to share what "connection" means for our recovery and our future. For Tabitha, that connection started early; she spent her youth riding the Route 91 bus, relying on it to navigate the river long before she was leading the efforts to rebuild it.

Today, living upriver across the Goodpasture Bridge is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for Tabitha and her husband Marshall—a Blue River native. Now, raising third-generation McKenzie High School students, they know firsthand that the vitality of our community depends on how we support one another—whether through stable housing, meaningful work, or the transit lines that link our rural towns to the rest of the county.

Seeing the 91 through Tabitha’s eyes—from a young passenger to a community leader—reminds us that these services are the threads that keep our community’s history and future woven together.

We are so proud to have a team that doesn't just work for the community, but is deeply woven into its history.

For Tabitha Eck, public transit is more than a ride, it’s a connection to opportunity, community, and recovery.

Raised along the McKenzie River, Tabitha now serves as Executive Director of the McKenzie Community Land Trust, helping lead the rebuilding efforts in Blue River after the Holiday Farm Fire.

Recently, while waiting for Route 91 in Vida, she realized she had stood in that exact same spot 20 years earlier as a teenager heading to her first job.

“...that bus provided that opportunity for me when I was 16 and is providing that opportunity for me now.”

Today, Route 91 continues connecting McKenzie River communities to work, resources, and each other, helping people stay rooted in the places they love.

Read Tabitha’s story: https://zurl.co/jsdmf

05/14/2026

Happy days ahead!

Blue River, OR – On December 10, 2025, under clear blue skies, the McKenzie Community Land Trust (MCLT) welcomed Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, state and local lead...

01/29/2026

Couldn't make it to the Rose Street Ribbon Cutting? Want to relive the celebration? The event replay is now live on our YouTube channel, check it out! (youtube.com/watch?v=Zna8PQC0rRE)

Interested in buying a home at Rose Street? Don't forget to fill out our quick housing needs survey here: forms.gle/Ew7wRCvDgLg4is4W8. Responses received by January 31st will be considered for the waitlist.

On December 10, 2025 we came together to celebrate multiple years of hard work, partnerships, and community resolve at the ribbon cutting for the Rose Street...

12/31/2025

🌿 2025: A Year of Heart, Home, and Hope in the McKenzie Valley

What a year, McKenzie community! We gathered for our annual favorites like the Tokatee Golf Tournament, the Blue River Rebuilding Block Party, and Decisionmaker Tours that brought leaders right here to see the community's progress.

We funded and created the Blue River Welcome station to pull traffic into downtown Blue River working with local stakeholders to bring awareness to need for increased supports for economic recovery.

We lifted our voices at our first benefit concert with Martyn Joseph at the Wildish Community Theater.

Behind the scenes, we secured two more legacy family properties to build even more workforce housing ahead as well as new grants to further our community rebuilding work in the McKenzie Valley.

We even hosted a Lane County Council meeting in the valley for the first time in years AND got the governor lunching with local leaders to hear their stories and struggles of recovery.

And, of course, we celebrated the completion and ribbon-cutting of our first six CLT homes in the Rose Street Neighborhood!

This year wasn’t built by an organization — it was built by people, the community, YOU: volunteers, donors, partners, neighbors showing up with golf clubs, watering cans, questions, ideas, checks, and endless hope that we can rebuild our community together.

Thank you for making 2025 a year of healing, homes, and unbreakable community spirit. Here’s to an even brighter 2026 — together.

If you'd like to support our rebuilding efforts in 2026, please check out our website at https://www.mckenzieclt.org/ways-to-support.

We can’t wait to see you in the new year.