Job posting: Housing Program Organizer (Eastern and Central MA, Eastern CT, RI)

Cooperative Development Institute (www.cdi.coop) is seeking a new hire to join its New England Resident Owned Communities (NEROC) Program. The main work of the program is to assist the residents in the nearly 1200 manufactured home parks in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont and Maine to purchase their communities and manage them as resident-owned cooperatives. The program is part of the highly successful ROC USA Network (www.rocusa.org).

This position will focus primarily on providing technical assistance to manufactured housing communities throughout Southeastern New England (Eastern and Central Massachusetts, Eastern Connecticut, and Rhode Island). The successful candidate will be enthusiastic, a good communicator, a self-starter, ready to learn, able to travel and work on some evenings and weekends. The housing program work is full-time (40 hrs/week). A new hire may also have the option of supplementing this work by taking on fee-for-service cooperative development projects that the Cooperative Development Institute is working on outside of the NEROC program.

See job description below. Interested candidates should send a cover letter and resume with references to info@cdi.coop. This position will remain open until filled.

Job Title: Housing Program Organizer (Full Time).
Reports to: Executive Director, Housing Program Manager
Base Salary Compensation: $35-45,000 plus benefits (Exempt)
Full-time Position: 40 hours/week
Position Overview: Aids the Housing Program Manager in organizing manufactured home park residents to form cooperatives to purchase and manage their communities; provides training and assistance to existing resident-owned manufactured home communities, both individually and in groups; helps members understand their roles and responsibilities in order to more effectively manage their resident owned community; fosters a sense of empowerment and community spirit.

Housing Program Organizer

Essential Job Functions

1. Assists Housing Program Manager with community organizing and technical assistance to resident owned manufactured housing communities; includes door-to-door canvassing, community meetings and presentations, mailings, and incorporation assistance.
2. Assists in resident association board meetings, including preparation, agenda setting, running efficient meetings, follow-up, and review of minutes and financial statements.
3. Provides organizational and administrative assistance to the Housing Program Manager to ensure that the various elements of the Housing Program are running smoothly; includes meeting facilitation, fundraising assistance, and fulfilling reporting requirements.
4. Provides direct support and organizational training to cooperative board members, committees and residents. 5. In each developing co-op,

o trains committee and facilitates the production of Bylaws.
o trains committee and facilitates the production of Community Rules.
o trains committee and facilitates the approval of membership committee policies and procedures, as well as policies for general governance of Associations.

6. Contributes to the development and implementation of workshops for board and community members on range of topics including: board and members’ roles and responsibilities, working in teams, infrastructure and planning for the future, community building, motivating volunteers, corporate finances and communication.
7. Assists both established and developing resident-owned communities with all aspects of their financial and loan compliance responsibilities.
8. As needed, assists struggling cooperatives to assess their organizational health, identify problems, and develop goals and a plan of action.
9. Other tasks and special projects, as assigned by the Program Manager.

Organizational Expectations:

1. Responsible for conducting all activities within the prescribed policy and budgetary guidelines as set by the Board and administered by the Executive Director.
2. Functions as a participant in CDI's Cooperative Development Team, sharing information effectively to assist others in doing CDI's work. Builds positive and strong relationships with other CDI staff.
3. Demonstrates personal responsibility in job performance.
4. Responsible for role modeling professional standard of behavior. Takes this role within the organization, is consistently respectful and professional with staff and clients.
5. May be required to perform additional, related duties or functions of lesser or greater responsibility as negotiated to meet the ongoing needs of the organization.

Minimum Requirements

1. 3 to 5 years of cooperative business experience, including project management experience in for-profit, non-profit community or economic development organizations.
2. Experience with group facilitation, coaching a group through an autonomous decision-making process, and coping with conflict situations.

Knowledge Skills/Abilities

1. Advanced degree in related field welcomed, minimum of Bachelors degree or equivalent.
2. Strong knowledge of fiscal management, strategic planning and general business practices.
3. Working understanding of budgeting, real estate and financing.
4. Strong knowledge of and commitment to cooperatives and cooperative development.
5. Well-developed partnership, process development and integration and planning skills.
6. Familiarity with public policy process and development.
7. Excellent communication skills, including public speaking, consensus-building and facilitation skills.
8. Proactive and team-oriented leadership required.
9. Ability to think critically and solve problems creatively with small and large groups.
10. Demonstrated experience working effectively on a team.
11. Demonstrated success in community building and organizing.
12. Excellent interpersonal and negotiation skills.
13. Demonstrated experience in working remotely/independently.
14. Computer literacy required.
15. Ability to work with diverse groups of residents as well as town and state officials, attorneys, engineers, and other professionals.
16. Available evenings and occasional weekends.
17. Ability to travel.
18. Experience with cooperative governance structures and working with boards of directors preferred.
19. Experience with meeting process, property management, or contractor negotiations a bonus.

Characteristics

1. Well spoken and articulate.
2. Calm demeanor; able to perform under pressure during difficult interpersonal conflict.
3. Plans ahead, able to complete tasks and meet tight deadlines.
4. Able to understand and manage multiple complex tasks.
5. Works collaboratively, self-motivated, flexible, enthusiastic.

In accordance with Federal law and the U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discrimination on the base of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) To file a complaint of discrimination write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice), or (202) 720-6382 (voice and TDD).

Press release: Homeowners purchase 200-site North Adams park; join Mass. trend of resident-owned manufactured home communities

For Immediate Release


May 2, 2013

Wheel Estates Tenants Association Inc. 

Homeowners purchase 200-site North Adams park; 

join Mass. trend of resident-owned manufactured home communities 

Contacts: 

Andy Danforth, Housing Program Director, CDI (401) 439-9795
Michael Sloss, Managing Director, ROC USA® Capital: (202) 595-2690
Paul Bradley, President, ROC USA, LLC (603) 856-0709

North Adams, Mass. – Homeowners in this 200-home manufactured housing community took a big step toward securing their financial futures when they collectively bought their neighborhood as a resident corporation this week. 

The Wheel Estates Tenants Association Board of Directors said that while complex, the purchase process went more smoothly than they anticipated.

“It was hard work but it was all worth it,” board members wrote in a prepared statement. “The board is dedicated to the growth of our community with the support of our residents to put our best efforts into enhancing the community.”

The resident association purchased the community May 2 for $2.65 million with assistance from the Cooperative Development Institute. CDI is a certified technical assistance provider with ROC USA® Network, a national non-profit organization that works to help residents of for-sale mobile home parks form cooperatives and buy their communities. Technical assistance will continue to be provided by CDI to the association for the length of the mortgage — a minimum of 10 years.

In addition to a first mortgage that covered the purchase price, ROC USA Capital also provided a construction loan of up to $ 1.1 million to address infrastructure upgrades.

Wheel Estates is the sixth Massachusetts community supported by ROC USA Network. CDI and ROC USA helped more than 450 homeowners in two Carver communities purchase their parks in June and 66 homeowners in Plymouth in February. In these democratic associations, homeowners in the community each buy one low-cost membership interest. Each household has one vote on matters of the community. The members elect a Board of Directors to act on day-to-day issues and vote as a membership on larger matters like the annual budget, by-laws and community rules.

Andy Danforth, Director of CDI’s New England Resident Owned Communities (NEROC) Program, noted the extra challenge of for the first time working in a city with rent control ordinances. He joined the Wheel Estates board members in praising the efforts of city officials to accommodate a new model of community ownership.

“The city rent control board developed, in a matter of only three weeks, a new policy and rent adjustment application for resident-owned communities, and a new rent based upon resident member vote, contingent upon their purchase,” Danforth said.

Community owner Bob Morgan said selling to the residents was like any conventional sale.

“The transaction involved all the normal things, no surprises,” Morgan said. “Andy did a great job.”

Financing for the project came from ROC USA Capital. ROC USA Capital is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ROC USA and a U.S. Department of Treasury-certified Community Development Financial Institution.

ROC USA Capital Managing Director Michael Sloss pointed to the community’s prime location, with sweeping views of the Berkshires, hundreds of undeveloped hillside acres, the abutting Savoy Mountain State Forest and easy access to shopping, schools and more.

“We’re excited to meet both the community acquisition and community improvement needs with our financing,” said Sloss, noting that a significant portion of ROC USA Capital’s loan is targeted to water, sewer and road improvements. “The preservation of the homes in Wheel Estates through affordable, fixed-rate community financing will have lasting impact in North Adams.”

Cooperative ownership of mobile home parks as a way of preserving affordable communities is a priority for several national non-profit organizations that in 2008 formed ROC USA to make resident-owned communities viable nationwide. ROC USA is sponsored by the Ford Foundation, NeighborWorks® America, NCB Capital Impact, the Corporation for Enterprise Development, and the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund.

ROC USA is a non-profit organization with a national network of eight organizations such as CDI and a national financing source for resident-owned communities. “We solve the two basic barriers to resident ownership – access to expert technical assistance and financing to help homeowners become buyers when their community is for sale,” said Paul Bradley, ROC USA’s founding president.

ROC USA Network has helped 46 communities preserve nearly 3,200 homes in 13 states since its launch in May 2008. www.rocusa.org

The Cooperative Development Institute is a regional cooperative development center, founded in 1994, which has assisted dozens of new and existing cooperatives throughout New England and New York. It is involved in cooperative housing as well as agriculture, consumer, worker-owner, energy, and fishing cooperatives. For rural senior co-op development, CDI received support from the Cooperative Development Foundation. www.cdi.coop

This is the 10th resident corporation purchase for CDI in 29 months, with six in Massachusetts, three in Vermont and one in Maine.

New Resident-Owned Community in Plymouth, MA

For Immediate Release

Feb. 20, 2013

West Wood Village Resident Association Inc.

Homeowners purchase 66-site Plymouth park; join growing

Mass. trend of resident-owned manufactured home communities

Contacts:

Bob Howard, President, West Wood Village Resident Association (774) 283-2878

Andy Danforth, Housing Program Director, CDI (401) 439-9795

Michael Sloss, Managing Director, ROC USA® Capital: (202) 595-2690
Paul Bradley, President, ROC USA, LLC (603) 856-0709

Plymouth, Mass. – Homeowners in this 66-home manufactured housing community took a big step toward securing their financial futures when they collectively bought their neighborhood as a resident corporation today.

Bob Howard, interim association president, said the board of directors is focused on providing good services, including a staff person to perform maintenance and upkeep around West Wood Village.

”I think the overall feeling is one of happiness with becoming a resident-owned community and being able to run our own lives,” said Howard, a retired chemical engineer. “We now have control of our destiny. Before we were all living on a month-to-month lease, and there was always the possibility of being sold.

“It’s getting rid of the unknown. We know now that we as the community are running the community.”

The resident association purchased the community Feb. 20 for $3.83 million with assistance from the Cooperative Development Institute. CDI is a certified technical assistance provider with ROC USA® Network, a national non-profit organization that works to help residents of for-sale mobile home parks form cooperatives and buy their communities. Technical assistance will continue to be provided by CDI to the association for the length of the mortgage — a minimum of 10 years.

“I’d say the partnership with ROC USA has been excellent,” Howard said. “They’re very supportive and CDI has been very supportive. I know we couldn’t have done this without them.”

West Wood Village is the fifth Massachusetts community in the ROC USA Network. CDI and ROC USA helped more than 450 homeowners in two Carver communities purchase their parks in June. In these democratic associations, homeowners in the community each buy one low-cost share. Each household has one vote on matters of the community. The members elect a Board of Directors to act on day-to-day issues and vote as a membership on larger matters like the annual budget, by-laws and community rules.

Andy Danforth, Director of CDI’s New England Resident Owned Communities (NEROC) Program, said, “It’s very rewarding to work with residents all over the state who are working hard to bring more economic stability to their lives through this process of democratic ownership.”

Financing for the project came from ROC USA Capital and CDI. ROC USA Capital is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ROC USA and a U.S. Department of Treasury-certified Community Development Financial Institution.

ROC USA Capital Managing Director Michael Sloss pointed to the community’s prime location near a large shopping center, historic downtown Plymouth, and major roads to Boston, Cape Cod and Providence, R.I.

“ROC USA Capital was very pleased to partner with the homeowners at this community and CDI to preserve 66 affordable homes in Plymouth,” Sloss said. “To deliver long-term affordable fixed-rate permanent financing while promoting preservation of this attractive neighborhood represents tremendous community impact.”

West Wood Village just finished digging out from winter storm Nemo, a blizzard for the record books. Howard said the 30 inches of snow that fell in Plymouth was compounded by gusty winds, which knocked out power. With drifts well up onto the windows of homes, many of the elderly residents were essentially trapped.

A year from now, Howard said the community will be better equipped to handle such a storm.

“We’re purchasing the right equipment, we’ve got the right attitude and we should be in good shape to handle it,” Howard said, noting that as residents have gotten to know one another better through the purchase process, they’ve become more apt to help out their neighbors. “We have a plan to handle that type of situation, we’ll just hire additional people plus the person we have working here to take care of it.”

Cooperative ownership of mobile home parks as a way of preserving affordable communities is a priority for several national non-profit organizations that in 2008 formed ROC USA to make resident-owned communities viable nationwide. ROC USA is sponsored by the Ford Foundation, NeighborWorks® America, NCB Capital Impact, the Corporation for Enterprise Development, and the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund. The Community Loan Fund, a non-profit community development financial institution in New Hampshire, leveraged its experience with 103 resident-owned communities in that state to launch ROC USA with national partners in 2008.

ROC USA is a non-profit organization with a national network of eight organizations such as CDI and a national financing source for resident-owned communities. “We solve the two basic barriers to resident ownership – access to expert technical assistance and financing to help homeowners become buyers when their community is for sale,” said Paul Bradley, ROC USA’s founding president.

ROC USA Network has helped 45 communities preserve nearly 3,000 homes in 13 states since its launch in May 2008. www.rocusa.org

The Cooperative Development Institute is a regional cooperative development center, founded in 1994, which has assisted dozens of new and existing cooperatives throughout New England and New York. It is involved in cooperative housing as well as agriculture, consumer, worker-owner, energy, and fishing cooperatives. For rural senior co-op development, CDI received support from the Cooperative Development Foundation. www.cdi.coop

###

Op-Ed: Cooperatives could benefit Maine residents

Our own Rob Brown has written a great Op-Ed for the Bangor Daily News for Co-op Month, highlighting the benefits that Resident Ownership through cooperatives could bring to people living in manufactured home parks in Maine.
Check it out:
http://bangordailynews.com/2012/10/11/opinion/how-trailer-park-cooperatives-could-benefit-maine/

CDI Helps 2 Communities, 466 Families Go Co-op

CDI HELPS 2 COMMUNITIES, 466 FAMILIES GO CO-OP IN SINGLE TRANSACTION

For immediate release  CDI HELPS 2 COMMUNITIES, 466 FAMILIES GO CO-OP IN SINGLE TRANSACTION Carver, MA, June 25, 2012: The residents’ associations of 2 manufactured housing communities comprised of a combined total of 466 homes in Carver, Massachusetts have purchased their communities, securing for themselves enduring control of the land their homes occupy. Cranberry Village Residents Association and the Pine Tree Village Residents Association closed in a 2 party transaction Friday afternoon after working together for 5 months toward the purchase. Notably, the purchase was without an increase in rent to the residents. With the total transaction exceeding $23 million, it is the largest single transaction in homes and dollars closed within the ROC USA™ network. Cranberry Village, a 55+ community, and Pine Tree Village, a family community, were developed and operated by the Piper family since the 1970’s. After the Pipers signed an agreement last December to sell the properties to a NYSE-listed Investment Trust, the communities’ residents banded together to purchase under a right of refusal law in Massachusetts. They quickly contacted the Cooperative Development Institute (CDI), which served as their technical assistant through the process of establishing right of first refusal, incorporation, negotiations, due diligence, financing and closing. CDI, a member of the ROC USA Network, will provide technical assistance for the life of their mortgage loan. “This is a place where we help each other — it’s a close-knit neighborhood that got closer by forming the co-op and going through the purchase process,” said David Tessier, president of the Cranberry Residents Association. “Now most people are concentrating on the rent stabilizing. We were worried, because in today’s economy, some people are living on very slim fixed budgets and they can’t afford the rent going up every year.” As quoted in the Patriot Ledger, Pine Tree board member Larry Erikson said: “It’s like a new democracy. The members decide, what do we want to do with surplus? We could reduce the rents or do tree work and fix potholes.” ROC USA (www.rocusa.org) is a non-profit organization with a national network of eight organizations such as CDI and a national financing source for co-ops. The ROC USA process solves the two basic barriers to resident ownership – access to expert technical assistance and financing to help homeowners become buyers when their community is for sale. Financing for the project was provided by ROC USA® Capital, a 501c3 national community development financial institution that is certified by the Department of Treasury’s CDFI Fund. With these communities CDI’s New England Resident Owned Communities initiative (NEROC) has assisted 7 conversions in 20 months in a territory that covers all the New England states except New Hampshire. CDI (www.cdi.coop), a 501c3 cooperative development center based in Shelburne Falls, MA is funded in part through a USDA Rural Development grant.  For further information contact: Andrew Danforth, Director, CDI NEROC adanforth@cdi.coop 1-877-NE-COOPS Mike Bullard, ROC USA Communications Manager mbullard@rocusa.org 603-856-0763

ROC USA on All Things Considered (NPR)

The NH public radio story that aired last week has now hit the national airwaves on NPR's All Things Considered: http://www.npr.org/2012/05/02/151863518/home-sweet-mobile-home-co-ops-deliver-ownership. We'd like to point out that we are working day and night to help the community referred to in the first part of the story, in Carver, MA, to buy their park. Here's hoping that they can achieve peace of mind along with all of the other Resident Owned Communities being assisted by ROC USA!

2 Job Openings at CDI: Housing Program Organizers

The Cooperative Development Institute is hiring for two part-time positions: housing program organizers in Maine and in Southeast New England. See job description below.

Cooperative Development Institute (www.cdi.coop) is seeking a new hire to join its New England Resident Owned Communities (NEROC) Program (www.cdi.coop/manufacturedhousing.html). The main work of the program is to assist the residents in the nearly 1200 manufactured home parks in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont and Maine to purchase their communities and manage them as resident-owned cooperatives. The program is part of the highly successful ROC USA Network (www.rocusa.org).

These two positions will focus primarily on providing technical assistance to manufactured housing communities throughout Maine and Southeast New England. The successful candidate will be enthusiastic, a good communicator, a self-starter, ready to learn, able to travel and work on some evenings and weekends. The housing program work is currently part-time (20 hrs/week), but is hoped to become full time within a year. A new hire may also have the option of supplementing this part-time work by taking on fee-for-service cooperative development projects that the Cooperative Development Institute is working on outside of the NEROC program.

See job description below. Interested candidates should send a cover letter and resume with references to info@cdi.coop. This position will remain open until filled.

Job Title: Housing Program Organizer (Part Time).

Reports to: Executive Director, Housing Program Manager

Base Salary Compensation: $18-22/hour in Maine, $20-25/hour in Mass., plus benefits (some paid time off and some reimbursement of health insurance) (Salaried/Exempt)

Part-time Position: 20 hours/week

Approximate Start Date: May 2012

Position Overview: Aids the Housing Program Manager in organizing manufactured home park residents to form cooperatives to purchase and manage their communities; provides training and assistance to existing resident-owned manufactured home communities, both individually and in groups; helps members understand their roles and responsibilities in order to more effectively manage their resident owned community; fosters a sense of empowerment and community spirit.

Essential Job Functions:

1. Assists Housing Program Manager with community organizing; includes door-to-door canvassing, community meetings and presentations, mailings, and incorporation assistance.
2. Provides organizational and administrative assistance to the Housing Program Manager to ensure that the various elements of the Housing Program are running smoothly; includes meeting facilitation, fundraising assistance, and fulfilling reporting requirements.
3. Provides direct support and organizational training to cooperative board members, committees and residents.
4. In each developing co-op,
• trains committee and facilitates the production of Bylaws.
• trains committee and facilitates the production of Community Rules.
• trains committee and facilitates the approval of membership committee policies and procedures.
5. Contributes to the development and implementation of workshops for board and community members on range of topics including: board and members’ roles and responsibilities, working in teams, infrastructure and planning for the future, community building, motivating volunteers, corporate finances and communication.
6. Coordinates support for and monitors progress of resident-owned communities, as assigned by the Program Manager, including monthly review of cooperative minutes and budget reports.
7. Assists both established and developing resident-owned communities with all aspects of their financial and loan compliance responsibilities.
8. As needed, assists struggling cooperatives to assess their organizational health, identify problems, and develop goals and a plan of action.
9. Other tasks and special projects, as assigned by the Program Manager.

Organizational Expectations:

1. Responsible for conducting all activities within the prescribed policy and budgetary guidelines as set by the Board and administered by the Executive Director.
2. Functions as a participant in CDI’s Cooperative Development Team, sharing information effectively to assist others in doing CDI’s work. Builds positive and strong relationships with other CDI staff.
3. Demonstrates personal responsibility in job performance.
4. Responsible for role modeling professional standard of behavior. Takes this role within the organization, is consistently respectful and professional with staff and clients.
5. May be required to perform additional, related duties or functions of lesser or greater responsibility as negotiated to meet the ongoing needs of the organization.

Minimum Requirements

1. 3 to 5 years of cooperative business experience, including project management experience in for-profit, non-profit community or economic development organizations.
2. Experience with group facilitation, coaching a group through an autonomous decision-making process, and coping with conflict situations.

Knowledge Skills/Abilities

1. Advanced degree in related field welcomed, minimum of Bachelors degree or equivalent.
2. Strong knowledge of fiscal management, strategic planning and general business practices.
3. Strong knowledge of and commitment to cooperatives and cooperative development.
4. Well-developed partnership, process development and integration and planning skills.
5. Experience with cooperative governance structures and working with boards of directors preferred.
6. Familiarity with public policy process and development.
7. Excellent communication skills, including public speaking, consensus-building and facilitation skills.
8. Proactive and team-oriented leadership required.
9. Ability to think critically and solve problems creatively with small and large groups.
10. Demonstrated experience working effectively on a team.
11. Demonstrated success in community building and organizing.
12. Excellent interpersonal and negotiation skills.
13. Computer literacy required.
14. Ability to work with diverse groups of residents as well as town and state officials, attorneys, engineers, and other professionals.
15. Working understanding of budgeting, real estate and financing.
16. Available evenings and occasional weekends.
17. Ability to travel.

Characteristics

1. Well spoken and articulate.
2. Calm demeanor; able to perform under pressure during difficult interpersonal conflict.
3. Plans ahead, able to complete tasks and meet tight deadlines.
4. Able to understand and manage multiple complex tasks.
5. Works collaboratively, self-motivated, flexible, enthusiastic.

In accordance with Federal law and the U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discrimination on the base of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) To file a complaint of discrimination write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice), or (202) 720-6382 (voice and TDD).

Homestead Acres Vermont's newest Resident-Owned Community

Congratulations to the 26 residents of Homestead Acres Mobile Home Park in Swanton, VT for officially purchasing their community today! The residents' association, Homestead Acres Co-op, is the second to take ownership of a manufactured housing community or "mobile home park" in the State of Vermont in less than half a year--this after an 18 year period in which no resident owned communities were developed in the state. CDI provided the cooperative with pre-closing technical assistance and will provide ongoing support for years to come! Homestead Acres Co-op joins a nationwide network of 117 resident owned communities developed according to the ROC USA limited equity model (rocusa.org), which has ensured that nearly 7,000 units of housing will remain permanently affordable.

Many thanks to ROCUSA Capital and the Cooperative Fund of New England for providing financing! Also, stay tuned for pictures and a press release.

Bunker Hill Community Cooperative Purchases the 14-home Bunker Hill

Press garnered about this story:

• Valley News newspaper: http://www.vnews.com/07262011/7941365.htm
• WPTV tv news: http://www.wptz.com/r/28673441/detail.html
• WCAX tv news: http://www.wcax.com/story/15152251/how-residents-kept-their-mobile-home-park-from-closing

Windsor, VT – Nearly half a year after receiving news that their community was likely to be shut down forever, homeowners at Bunker Hill Mobile Home Park are now celebrating taking ownership of their community on June 30, 2011. The community’s land and facilities are now owned and democratically operated by Bunker Hill Community Cooperative (BHCC), an association comprised of all of the park’s residents. BHCC is the third resident-owned mobile home park in the state of Vermont, and the first new co-op in almost twenty years.

“At first, when our park was at risk of being shut down, I looked at this glass as being half empty, now it's overflowing,” states Bunker Hill resident and co-op member Barbara Adams. Co-op President Dave Furman adds that this recent resurgence of optimism and pride has already made a mark on the community: “The formation of the co-op has brought everyone closer together, almost like a family. Everyone has been working hard on the grounds, and in the units, taking pride in the community”.

Yet, the path to resident ownership was not an easy nor certain one. When the park’s former owner, Rockingham Community Land Trust (RACLT), sent out a notice of their intent to shut down the community back in October, 2010, Bunker hill residents were given three options: Work with RACLT to obtain relocation money in the form of a state grant, wait and hope for another nonprofit to purchase the property, or look into the feasibility of resident ownership. Intent on saving their homes, Bunker Hill residents ventured into what is unfamiliar territory in Vermont and investigated the feasibility of resident ownership. To this end, Bunker Hill residents enlisted the services of two technical assistance providers, the Vermont-based Mobile Home Project of the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO) and the Massachusetts-based Cooperative Development Institute (CDI).

RACLT indicated that they believed the costs of running the aging community were too high and cited the location of the community in a flood zone. Under a grant from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, CDI completed an independently reviewed feasibility study that showed that a residents’ cooperative could in fact continue to operate the community affordably. This feasibility study now forms the basis of an operating plan that, combined with the ongoing technical assistance and training provided by both CVOEO and CDI, will ensure that the residents’ cooperative will remain successful for years to come.

And success at Bunker Hill not only benefits the 14 families residing there who get to keep their homes. According to CVOEO’s Mobile Home Project Program Director Shaun Gilpin, “this cooperative is a success not only for the community in Windsor, but for mobile home communities throughout the state as we hope to help usher in a model of community ownership that has worked so well elsewhere in the country and fits well with Vermont values of independence and strong communities.”

Mobile home cooperatives are democratic associations in which homeowners in the community each buy one low-cost share, and have one vote on matters of the community. The members elect a Board of Directors to act on day-to-day issues and vote as a membership on larger matters like the annual budget, By-laws and Community Rules.

The CVOEO Mobile Home Project (MHP) is a private non-profit that assist residents of mobile homes throughout Vermont. The MHP is the only non-profit in the state that works exclusively with residents of mobile homes and assists residents with community organizing, understanding and exercising their rights under Vermont law and accessing resources to better their standard of living.

CDI is a Regional Cooperative Development Center, founded in 1994, which has assisted dozens of new and existing cooperatives throughout New England and New York. CDI is a certified technical assistance provider with ROC USA, a national nonprofit organization that works to help residents of mobile home parks form democratically-run associations and buy their parks. CDI is working with the residents of 14 mobile home communities throughout New England. CDI is not only involved with manufactured housing but provides technical assistance to agriculture, consumer, worker-owner, energy, and fishing cooperatives.

Financing was secured through Icarus Social Capital LLC of Foxborough, Massachusetts to purchase and rehabilitate the residents’ community. Secondary Financing was provided by the Vermont Community Loan Fund and the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board.

NYT article features CDI work with Manufactured Home Park Co-ops

In today's New York Times, Loren Berlin published "At More Mobile-Home Parks, a Greater Sense of Security", a look at the growing movement for residents of manufactured home parks to form nonprofit cooperatives that purchase and manage the operations of the parks in which they live. The Cooperative Development Institute is proud to be a certified technical assistance provider with the ROC USA Network, which is spearheading a nation-wide initiative to secure such resident-owned communities. Our New England Resident Owned Communities program, begun in Fall 2009, has already helped one park convert to resident-ownership, and is working with Wamsutta, the park in North Attleboro, MA featured in the NYT article, to complete their purchase this Spring. There are hundreds of manufactured home parks throughout New England, housing thousands of largely lower-income individuals and families, and apart from New Hampshire, where the ROC concept was launched, very few are currently resident-owned. Resident-ownership ensures that the land remains in use as a manufactured home park, keeps lot rents from increasing too much over time, and gives residents a direct say in park maintenance and infrastructure.

For more information on how residents can form a cooperative to purchase and manage their park, or for information on the benefits to park owners of selling to residents, contact our housing program manager, Andy Danforth, at adanforth@cdi.coop or 401-439-9795.

Photo: Alice Sadoski, resident of Wamsutta Mobile Home Park
Photo credit: Erik Jacobs for the New York Times