THRIVE Santa Ana CTL
A digital home that reflects the care and scale of community-led work.
TL;DR
- Complete website redesign and content reorganization on Wix
- Bilingual (English & Spanish) site built for accessibility and clarity
- Large body of reports, studies, and initiatives reorganized into structured categories
- Ongoing support covering website updates, maintenance, and digital systems
Overview
THRIVE Santa Ana is the first and only Community Land Trust in Santa Ana, founded by residents and local organizations committed to community-led development. Their work spans affordable housing, micro-farms, public space, local small businesses, and resident leadership.
When THRIVE reached out, they were in a moment of growth and transition. The organization had produced a large body of meaningful work reports, studies, initiatives, and community forums, but their website no longer reflected the scale or clarity of that work. They needed a site that could both tell their story and serve the public as an educational resource.
The Challenge
THRIVE’s previous website had been built gradually over time by staff, with good intentions but limited structure. While the content itself was valuable, the site lacked hierarchy, consistency, and flow. Visitors were often met with long blocks of text, uneven styling, and pages that felt overwhelming to navigate.
Key challenges included:
- No clear structure for a growing body of reports and studies
- Inconsistent design and typography across pages
- Difficulty scanning or finding key information
- Limited clarity for funders, partners, and community members
- Need for full bilingual support
Goals & Priorities
The primary goals for the redesign were to:
- Create a clear, consistent visual identity across the site
- Reorganize years of work into an intuitive, scannable structure
- Make reports, studies, and initiatives easy to find and explore
- Ensure the site worked equally well in English and Spanish
- Support community members, funders, and partners with clarity
Approach
We decided to keep the site on Wix, since the THRIVE team was already familiar with the platform and needed to make updates independently. The focus was not on changing tools, but on changing structure.
Using THRIVE’s existing brand kit logo, colors, fonts, graphic elements, and photography, we refined the visual system to reduce color overload and improve consistency. Design decisions were guided by readability, accessibility, and the lived experience of the community the site serves.
From there, we worked collaboratively to audit all existing content and determine how it should be grouped, shortened, or reframed for the web.
The Solution
The redesigned website introduces a clear content hierarchy and user flow. Their work was reorganized into categories such as:
- Reports & Surveys
- Community Land Trust Education
- California Jobs First Initiative
- Affordable Housing & Homeownership
- Stories, Media, and Announcements
A dedicated Education section now serves as a growing library of studies, reports, and learning resources. Project pages highlight active initiatives like California Jobs First and the Walnut & Daisy Microfarm, while past initiatives and community convenings are documented without overwhelming visitors.
The site also includes clearer pathways for donations, membership, and community involvement.
Selected Details
Results & Impact
The new website now reflects the depth and care of THRIVE’s work. Information is easier to find, content is more approachable, and the site better supports public education, community engagement, and organizational credibility.
The redesign created a foundation that allows THRIVE to continue adding content without losing clarity or consistency.
"It has been a pleasure working with Tona and all things IT at our organization. We are a young organization, and Tona's diverse skillset is extremely helpful as we face not only day-to-day challenges with technology, but also with suggesting and implementing new systems. Tona created a beautiful website for us that is also very user friendly. Most importantly, Tona is always extremely friendly, very responsive and quick!!"
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