CASA of Oregon helps Horizon Homeowners Cooperative members complete the construction of their manufactured housing community
McMinnville, OR (October 6, 2009) — On Saturday, October 10, 2009, members of the Horizon Homeowners Cooperative, the former Victor Manor Mobile Home Park, located in McMinnville, and CASA of Oregon, an affordable housing developer, will celebrate the construction completion of one of Oregon’s first resident-owned manufactured housing communities. The grand opening ceremony begins at 2 PM and will be held at Horizon Homeowners Cooperative located at 900 SE Booth Bend Rd, McMinnville.
The conversion of the former Victor Manor Mobile Home Park into a resident-owned community was the first of its kind in Oregon using the newly-established non-profit, limited equity cooperative model, which enables cooperative members to purchase, operate and maintain their manufactured housing communities. Now, after ten months of construction activity, the Horizon Homeowners Cooperative has completed the community infrastructure improvements, which include redesigned lots, new underground utility lines, driveways, sidewalks, lighting and a community park. According to Peter Hainley, Executive Director of CASA of Oregon, “The infrastructure improvements that have been done at the former Victor Manor Mobile Home Park are significant. After many months of hard work, we’ve seen a transformation into what is now a beautiful community filled with members who manage day-to-day operations and make critical decisions about their collective futures.”
Horizon Homeowners Cooperative is CASA of Oregon’s first effort to convert privately-owned parks into resident-owned communities in Oregon. The construction and permanent financing for Horizon Homeowners Cooperative came from Shorebank, Oregon Housing and Community Services and CASA of Oregon. A second manufactured housing park community, located in Redmond, is scheduled for conversion later this month.
In 2006 and in 2008, CASA of Oregon was awarded grants under the Corporation for Enterprise Development’s I’M HOME program, with match funding from Oregon Housing and Community Services, to develop a replicable model for resident ownership of manufactured home communities in Oregon. In May 2008, CASA became one of nine Certified Technical Assistance Providers (CTAPs) under the national ROC USA network. As a member of the ROC USA Network, CASA delivers pre- and post-purchase technical assistance and training and assistance with securing financing to help manufactured homeowners in Oregon buy their communities and secure their economic futures through resident ownership.
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CASA of Oregon’s mission is to develop affordable housing, programs and facilities that promote the quality of life and self-sufficiency of farm workers and other low-income populations throughout the state of Oregon. Since its inception in 1988, CASA has developed 29 multi-housing projects totaling nearly 1,100 units of housing for farm workers and their families, with another 64 units under development. The organization has completed eight community facility projects, built eight single family homes and is preserving 51 units in expiring-use projects. In 2001, CASA was certified by the US Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institution and established a $2.8 million loan fund for predevelopment and construction financing. In the same year, CASA started the Valley Individual Development Account (VIDA) Program, which is a collaborative of 27 organizations throughout the state that offer Individual Development Accounts to low-income individuals. www.casaoforegon.org
ROC USA™ is a social enterprise that offers training, networking, and financing to help owners of manufactured homes gain security through ownership of their communities. We work through two wholly-owned subsidiaries: ROC USA™ Network member organizations – non-profit Certified Technical Assistance Providers – who provide the pre- and post-purchase training and technical assistance that helps homeowners buy and sustain their community; and ROC USA™ Capital that makes community purchase loans that provide a low-cost way for all homeowners within a community to become a member and voter in their member-controlled corporation or cooperative. www.rocusa.org
The Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) expands economic opportunity by helping Americans start and grow businesses, go to college, own a home, and save for their children’s and own economic futures. CFED identifies promising ideas, tests and refines them in communities to find out what works, craft policies and products to help good ideas reach scale, and develop partnerships to promote lasting change. CFED brings together community practice, public policy and private markets in new and effective ways to achieve greater economic impact. Through its Innovations in Manufactured Homes (I’M HOME) initiative, CFED has awarded nearly $3.5 million in grants since 2005. Much of this grant support has been dedicated to building the capacity of the local affordable housing organizations that will form the backbone of the ROC USA Network of technical assistance providers. www.cfed.org