Ownership Matters

In addition to increasing monthly site fees, residents of private- and investor-owned manufactured home communities often face another looming threat - community closure. Ten years ago, Esther Sullivan, author of "Manufactured Insecurity: Mobile Home Parks and Americans' Tenuous Right to Place," moved into two communities facing shut down to study the sociological impacts on the homeowners who liv...

At the 2019 ROC Leadership Institute, a new committee was formed to serve as a peer-to-peer support network for Resident Owned Communities. Two years later, the ROC Association Outreach & Education Committee is well underway - in the past year alone, they have hosted sessions at the ROC Leadership Institute, have run sessions at regional trainings, and have provided first-hand knowledge about resi...

Energy savings for Resident Owned Communities is an important topic that all community leaders can benefit from. In this episode, we're joined by ROC USA Capital's Kevin Porter. Kevin is passionate about energy efficiency and serves on the Board of Directors for Clean Energy NH. In this conversation, Kevin tells about the many ways ROCs can invest in clean energy - everything from solar and batter...

All across the country, Resident Owned Communities are doing powerful things! On this episode of Ownership Matters, we're joined by Ron Palmer, Board President at Lakeville Village in Geneseo, N.Y., to talk about his ROC's new solar array. Tune in to find out what motivated the residents of Lakeville Village to peruse a solar array, how much income it will generate for their ROC each year, and how...

Technical Assistance is crucial to the ongoing success of Resident Owned Communities - but what is it, exactly? In this episode of Ownership Matters, we're joined by Tory Clark, the Executive Director of Northcountry Cooperative Foundation, to talk about all things technical assistance, from problem-solving and governance to supporting community leaders through educational and leadership opportuni...

On today's episode of Ownership Matters, we're joined by Kim Capen, the ROC Association Director for the New England Region. Kim is currently wrapping up his third and final term representing Resident Owned Communities in New England. He moved into the Medvil Cooperative in 2006 just weeks after they finalized the purchase of the neighborhood and later became Board President. He was first elected...

In the spring of 2021, ROC USA was featured in a report by Transform Finance titled "Grassroots Community Engaged Investment: Making the Case for Community Engagement, Grassroots Participation, Democratization, and Shared Governance in Capital Interventions." The report highlights nonprofits engaging in Grassroots Community Engaged Investing, which they describe as a "power-building approach to in...

En este episodio de Ser Propietario Importa, invitadas Esthela Garza y Blanca Vega comparten su experiencia capeando heladas, un huracán y más como comunidad cooperativa. Aunque la cooperativa Pasadena Trails ha sido una comunidad ROC muy exitosa por más de 12 años, recientemente por la pandemia y temperaturas extremas, han tenido que colaborar entre la comunidad y con otras comunidades ROC para e...

On this week's episode of Ownership Matters, we're joined by industry pioneer George Allen to talk about the history and the future of manufactured housing. George is a widely respected manufactured home industry expert who was inducted into the RV/MH Heritage Hall of Fame in 2011. To date, he has trained and certified nearly 1,500 Manufactured Housing Managers and is the author of a book title La...

In this episode of Ownership Matters, we're joined by Tom Powers, the Board President at Clackamas River Community Cooperative in Clackamas, Oregon. If this Resident Owned Community sounds familiar, Rana Foroohar, our guest in episode four, talked about her visit to the community as part of research for two articles in the Financial Times. In today's episode, Tom tells us all about their little sl...

On this week's episode of Ownership Matters, we're joined by Roberta McDonald, the Senior Vice President of Brand Strategy at Cabot, a co-operative of farm families that has been around since 1919. Cabot is well-known on the east coast for its sharp cheddar cheese - but did you know it's also a cooperative? Roberta has a rich knowledge of cooperatives - take a listen! More information, including s...

On today's episode of Ownership Matters, we're joined by Financial Times' Global Business Columnist and Associate Editor Rana Foroohar to talk about two articles she wrote about manufactured housing communities for the Financial Times. In this episode, Rana shares her perspective on Resident Owned Communities and talks about her visits to two ROCs as part of the research she did for her articles....

In today's episode of Ownership Matters, we welcome Natividad Seefeld, Board President of Park Plaza Cooperative in Fridley, Minnesota. Natividad is an amazing community leader who lives and breathes the success of the Park Plaza Cooperative. Hosts Paul Bradley and Mike Bullard kick off this episode by introducing Natividad and her amazing successes—leading to her election to the ROC USA Board of...

On today's episode of Ownership Matters, we're joined by Dennis Jakubowski, Board President of Marilla Country Village, a resident-owned community in Alden, New York. The community is in its 10th year of resident ownership and has 154 lots. Dennis tells us all about Marilla Country Village's successes: paving 1.5 miles of road, a new playground, a new tractor for snow emergencies and new homes ins...

Julie Eades spent 36 years as the Executive Director of the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, where she championed resident ownership and helped build a program that helped 130 manufactured home communities transition to resident ownership. In the first episode of Ownership Matters, Julie walks us through the history of resident ownership in New Hampshire and nationally, and shares some of her fa...

Introducing Ownership Matters, a new podcast for homeowners in Resident Owned Communities, brought to you by ROC USA! Hosts Paul Bradley and Mike Bullard are excited to highlight the stories of people at the heart of the resident ownership movement. New episodes coming soon.