The homeowners in Brookside Mobile Home Park in Hill, NH recently purchased their 21-unit manufactured-home park, making it New Hampshire’s 139th resident-owned community (ROC).
Using training and technical assistance from the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund's ROC-NH™ team, homeowners organized and formed Brookside Cooperative, Inc. in April. The cooperative then negotiated with the park’s owners, Timothy and Sherri Minor, reached a $440,000 purchase price, and finalized the deal Aug. 31 with a mortgage from the Community Loan Fund.
 Brookside Cooperative Secretary Lynzey Ly and President David Kirsch. |
Sherri Minor said, “Being a family-owned and -operated business has made us really understand the people and know them and their families. I have great comfort in knowing they own it as a group. I know what it means to them.”
Co-op President David Kirsch said that through the work of buying their community he has already seen a heightened sense of responsibility and more engagement among Brookside’s residents.
“We are making plans for getting all urgent repairs completed and looking to the future to see what else we can do to improve the condition of the park. There is a growing sense of community that I didn't see before. I can envision our small park hosting events for our residents to enjoy together,” he said. “None of this would have been possible had we chose to just let some other private investor buy the park.”
On the day of the closing, co-op Treasurer Ellie Duclos remembered the day she phoned ROC-NH’s office looking for help. “I called because I didn’t want to see the park bought out. As a ROC, we have the control and ability to do what needs to be done. We have an amazing board, each with their own unique outlooks, abilities, and experiences that I believe will bring this park together to form a fantastic community.”
Brookside Cooperative is Merrimack County’s 20th ROC. Those communities contain 1,201 permanently affordable homes.
Cooperative ownership means Brookside's homeowners are now eligible for products and services, including real mortgages, that haven't been available to them. Studies show that when the land is secure, the availability of home financing improves the home's value, the owner's ability to make improvements, and overall housing affordability.
The nearly 8,500 homeowners in N.H.'s ROCs, spread across every county, also have access to management guidance, technical assistance, and leadership training in which they earn college credit through ROC-NH and its national network, ROC USA.
For 38 years, the Community Loan Fund has worked across N.H. to connect people, families, and business owners with the loans, training, and advice that allow them to have affordable homes, secure jobs, and quality child care, and become more economically stable.
View the complete list of ROCs in New Hampshire.
