Commons Foundation Arrives At Its Future
Sakonnet Times | November 20, 2025
After nearly two years of fund-raising and activism, The Commons Foundation takes the next steps toward an ‘attainable’ Little Compton
Hidden in rural Little Compton, approximately two acres of mostly wooded land that could one day hold two charming little homes awaits. And elsewhere in town, at least two residents — a farmer and a new grandmother — look happily toward the day when they’ll finish their own home projects with the help of that same non-profit.
It will be two years this coming January since the creation of The Commons Foundation, and volunteers dedicated to helping make homeownership more attainable in Little Compton look ahead to 2026 as a breakthrough year.
They’ve lobbied for local zoning changes that promote financially attainable housing for regular people, raised approximately $1.5 million to date solely from private donors, and created a strong network of supporters across town and outside its borders. With a good foundation laid, and the launch of several new programs, Little Compton will start seeing the most visible results of their work soon, they predict.
After 22 months of “all kinds of talk in the ether, now it’s starting to happen,” foundation chairman Ty Howe said. Now “is where we take this to the next level.”
Foundation members will hold a community meeting at the Little Compton Community Center this Thursday, Nov. 13, to bring residents up to date on recent developments and talk about the future. It runs from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Real people, real help
In particular, there are three or four main agenda items to go over Thursday — news about the foundation’s new no interest loan program and its first recipients, details about the foundation’s goal of land acquisition and future home building, and the outline of a new educational series aimed at helping buyers navigate the complex world of home finance.
The loan program will have the largest impact, at least immediately
Approximately one third of the foundation’s proceeds to date lay in a fund to provide no-interest 10-year loans to those who need them to help fulfill their dream of home ownership or improvement in Little Compton. Loan committee members began accepting pre-applications for their first-ever loans in May and over the past few months whittled the approximately 25 they received to a handful they expect will be completed by early next year.
One will go to a farmer who has long ties to the community and is searching for an attainable home. With a Commons Foundation loan, “he’s got a higher level that he can purchase, probably," Howe said.
As for the grandmother, she owns her home but applied for a loan to help build an ADU (accessory dwelling unit) in her barn for her daughter and her daughter’s newborn baby.
Foundation officials have no set goal for the yearly awarding of loans, but instead look for good opportunities and stories that align with their mission.
“It’s case by case,” Howe said. “Someone comes to you with a worthy project that fits the mission statement — I think there’s a tacit understanding of the entire board, that if opportunities come that look like the right kind of opportunities, we will do our best to fund them.”
The Home Program
Another milestone appears to be close — an anonymous donor has committed to gift the foundation its first parcel of land, a two-acre tract off Swamp Road.
If the donation goes through, foundation members hope the Swamp Road acquisition will be the first of many. As they prepare for the possible donation, the mechanism and means by which future homes would be built is still taking shape, and board members are discussing several scenarios. They include sitting down with potential buyers, giving them a fact sheet for a planned build and asking them if they would like it for that price; another is pre-building homes and then offering them to qualified buyers.
There is much to be decided, Howe said. While the foundation has worked with Little Compton-based Stegman Associates and Piatt Associates on design aspects, one of the first steps after an eventual donation would be to work out the nuts and bolts.
“We have not had hard conversations with contractors about what they’d be willing to do (but) we’ve had conversations with some who have indicated they would provide us with discounted services for the work.”
While those details flush themselves out in the coming months, Howe said he hopes the foundation’s growing reach and influence will help uncover other properties that could be used for attainable housing, as it’s been “a really difficult thing to actually close on a piece of land.”
Education
Meanwhile, a new regular educational series is set to begin soon at the community center.
Led by foundation board of directors member Edward Burnett, a former educator and college administrator turned financial advisor, the series is aimed at helping home buyers navigate the intricate world of housing finance, and the realities of purchasing or building in Little Compton.
“I think a lot of families struggle with the idea of, ‘When am I ready to do this? And what is it going to take for us to be able to do it?’”
“The funding that the Commons Foundation can provide them is a great jumpstart, but you need that foundation to exist to understand, ‘OK, we’ve got this loan now, but do we have enough other capital to make a household run? Are we brining in enough money month to month?”
Burnett sees the sessions as slightly different than the usual talks about financial planning he has with clients. Instead, “it’s really more about providing people the opportunity to have a conversation about what their goals are and giving them some insight — that’s what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Though no dates for the regular series have been announced, Burnett said they could be by Thursday’s meeting.
Looking ahead
Howe said Thursday’s meeting will also be a chance to thank the community for its support so far, talk about the future, and to let them know that even if they can’t help financially or offer land, support comes in all forms: It’s giving up a Saturday morning to help clean out a home, or spreading the word about the work the foundation and other housing advocates are doing, or finding opportunities to reach more people, or provide other help that will help fulfill the mission.
“People like to feel like they can make a difference,” Howe said.