Buy a House, Give a House through LJ Urban

GoodIt requires a double-take. The buy-one-give-one practice now includes houses. California eco-design firm LJ Urban constructed an eco community of 35 LEED ND Certified homes in an urban pocket of Sacramento. It’s aptly named Good. For every house sold, LJ Urban pays for the training of a local mason to build sustainable domiciles in Burkina Faso constructed from earth bricks and mortar.

LJ Urban works with the Association La Voute Nubienne (AVN), which has already trained 60 West African masons in native home construction. LJUrban

A quick recap of what this project means: eco-friendly living comes to an urban and modest-income area; Burkina Fasoans receive new homes; individuals are trained from scratch in a lasting and profitable skill; LJ Urban successfully pioneers cause capitalism with large-scale and high-value products.

Revved up? Lend a proverbial hand by visiting the firm’s web site. For every 100,000 people who do, LJ Urban will fully fund the masonry training for up to 20 individuals.

A post-story note that I love: the project was inspired by TOMS Shoes. Amazing how many thousands and thousands of lives have already been changed beyond the donation of shoes, and by the model of business and social impact pioneered by TOMS.

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  1. Micah February 17, 2014 at 5:34 pm #

    Thanks for the repost! I was a partner in LJ Urban before it went under. Sadly the economy of 2009 killed us.