Landmark PRICE funding will fuel critical health and safety infrastructure projects
ASHEBORO, N.C. – The federal government on Thursday announced nearly $40 million in grant funding to ROC USA to support ROCs in their efforts to secure and improve their manufactured home communities.
ROC USA was one of only 17 recipients of funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development from among a field of more than 175 applicants. The $38.1 million award was the largest of the $225 million in total funding announced during an event at Oak Meadows Community Association, a 58-home ROC in Asheboro.
“When I first started in this job at HUD, I heard a rumor that Congress might give us funding to give grants to manufactured housing communities,” said Marion McFadden, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development. “And I said, ‘Let me learn what’s really special going on in manufactured housing communities.’ And ROC USA took me on a tour of manufactured housing communities way up in Maine and I heard about the challenges that people were having but also the incredible work that the community residents were doing to ensure that the homes remained affordable and I was really taken with the model. Those visits really made an impact on me.”
On a cool Thursday afternoon in Asheboro, 50 people sat together under a white tent at Oak Meadows. Nearly 20 ROC Members joined federal and local government officials, business leaders and philanthropists as McFadden announced that ROC USA and 16 other agencies, including Cooperative Development Institute, received awards through PRICE, the Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement.
Named for the program’s sponsor, retired U.S. Rep. David E. Price (D-NC), the first-of-its kind funding saw $14 in requests for every $1 of available grant dollars, McFadden said.
“For decades, manufactured housing communities have been overlooked when it comes to financing and grants to preserve affordability and to make upgrades to communities,” McFadden said. “Funding has been limited to support rehabilitation and upgrades in manufactured housing communities and that’s just not right.”
ROC Association leaders were integral to getting PRICE funding passed, helping ROC leaders host tours and organizing an extensive letter-writing campaign to lawmakers. In 2022, then-Directors John Egan, Deb Winiewicz and Marjory Gilsrud met policymakers on Capitol Hill to discuss the critical importance of PRICE funding.
You are making a lifechanging difference in people’s lives and we could not be more proud to provide you the necessary funding to take the next step.
Marion McFadden,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development
Gilsrud, ROC Association Director and Board President at Madelia Mobile Village Cooperative in Madelia, Minn., said when local, state and federal leaders take the time to visit ROCs, the opportunity to meet homeowners erases the stigma people have of those who live there.
“We’re so excited and so happy. When Marion McFadden spoke, you could tell how much she meant by her words and how transformative a community visit was for her because you get to meet the people. It’s the heart of the people in our communities that changes hearts and minds,” she said. “This award reflects that.
“This is trailer park trash stigma-busting in action.”
ROC USA President Emily Thaden said the PRICE funding will help transform the lives of homeowners who want to purchase the land beneath their manufactured home communities and improve the infrastructure.
“We are beyond grateful,” Thaden said. “I cannot wait to see what we can accomplish. This program is going to create, preserve, improve and make resilient manufactured housing in America. This critical housing stock has been overlooked until now. Manufactured housing is the largest source of naturally occurring affordable housing across the country.”
Manufactured homes make up about 6 percent of our nation’s housing stock, Thaden said, adding that its preservation is critical to improve climate resilience for communities vulnerable to weather events like Hurricane Helene, which devastated parts of the southeastern U.S., including North Carolina, in September 2024.
Timothy Kidd, Board President at Oak Meadows, and Luz Marcelo, who served as Board President when the community became a ROC in 2020, spoke about the importance of investing in resident ownership for generational and financial stability. Homeowners pay $415 per month in site fees at Oak Meadows, far less than the $1,000 to $1,200 rent for a neighboring two-bedroom apartment.
This is trailer park trash stigma-busting in action.
Marjory Gilsrud,
ROC Association Board Chair
Kidd lives next door to his parents, who are aging in place, and is happy that he can afford to live near them to help when needed. Marcelo said in order to keep site fees low, it’s important to have funding sources outside of homeowners’ monthly payments.
“Public funding would be able to fix the challenges, and we wouldn’t have to keep Band-Aiding the issues. It would bring us peace of mind as a community and allow us to focus on saving money for other projects like repaving a portion of our roads, building a playground and a community center,” Marcelo said. “For so long, communities like ours were ignored in terms of public funding. This opportunity is so important because we feel seen, and we are given the recognition we deserve. Our communities are worth preserving and I hope that the tide is turning in terms of perception and recognition for manufactured home communities as being a part of the solution to the affordable housing crisis.”
McFadden praised ROC USA as a leader that serves as a model for others who are scaling affordable housing in America.
“ROC USA, thank you for all the work you are doing with HUD dollars and with other funding,” McFadden said. “You are making a lifechanging difference in people’s lives and we could not be more proud to provide you the necessary funding to take the next step.”