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MH Community in Derry Purchased By Residents Foxy Terrace Cooperative becomes NH's 100th resident-owned manufactured-housing community Residents of the 54-unit BigWMobile Home Park in Derry recently purchased their park, making it New Hampshire's 100th resident- owned manufactured-housing community. Using funding fromtheNewHampshire Com- munity Loan Fund and education and technical assistance and training fromthe Community Loan Fund's ROC-NH program, residents organized and formed the Foxy Terrace Cooperative in Jan- uary 2007 to convert their privately owned man- ufactured home park to resident-ownership. The cooperative then negotiated with park owners Frederic and Thomas Weber for the final purchase price of $2.2 million before finalizing the deal with a mortgage from the Community Loan Fund. To Foxy Terrace President Russell Brooks, the purchase means the residents will have control of their own community, deciding together "what needs to get fixed, what gets fixed first and how it's going to be fixed." And because the purpose of the cooperative isn't to profit from the park, he said, "we can actually put the money into Brooks said. That pride is on display at co-ops' community cleanup days, and in their \ 19 community gardens. Committees plan dances, cookouts, night sledding and pumpkin-carvings. Others look in regularly on elderly neighbors to be sure they're cared for. WhenMedvil Cooperative in Goffstown counted the number of volun- teer hours its members had contributed in 2010, the answer was stunning: 50,000. The largest of the resident-owned communities are multi-million- dollar enterprises, but they are run democratically by elected boards of di- rectors and annualmembermeetings. Several graduates of the Community Loan Fund's "boot camp" for new co-ops and/or annual leadership train- ing have since been elected or appointed to serve in their town's govern- ment. One hundred co-ops isn't just an achievement for the proud residents of these parks – it offers a lesson to all of us: When people have the right tools (fair loans, training and technical as- sistance) at the right time, they can take control of their lives and change the course of their lives. Land renters become owners. Residents become leaders. And neighborhoods become communities, in the best senses of the word. Craig Welch is Vice President for Housing at the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund. making it a better community … a community everybody wants to be proud to live in." Vice President John Regal said he is already seeing people "opening up" to their neighbors and to the fact that they're now in charge. "To me, it's the greatest thing walking around and seeing this happen, seeing the looks on their faces, and seeing people spending a lot more time talking with each other," he said. Although the Community Loan Fund works in several areas to connect people and families with the loans, training and advice that allow them to achieve affordable housing and secure jobs and become economically stable, the Concord, NH- based organization is best known for its work in manufactured housing. Residents of parks that are not cooperatively owned usually own the buildings they live in, but not the land beneath them. Because of that, they miss out on most of the usual benefits of home- ownership, including conventional mortgage terms, tax deductions, the appreciation of their home's value and the availability of equity loans. through false starts and disappointments, to buy their community. It was worth it, says president Russell Brooks. Now, the residents will pay rent to themselves. "We can actually put the money into making it a better community … a community everybody wants to be proud to live in," "Residents who purchase and run their com- munities are protected against excessive rent hikes and park closures, and often feel greater pride and investment in their homes and sur- roundings," says Community Loan Fund Presi- dent Juliana Eades. The Community Loan Fund helped convert its first park in Meredith in 1984. Since then, its cooperative assistance teamhas developed a con- version strategy, an annual leadership program, a bi-annual conference and a management guide for cooperatives. Its strategy is now being applied nationally by a spinoff organization, ROC USA. Foxy Terrace is the third resident-owned com- munity in Derry, joining Frost Residents Coop- erative and Running Brook Cooperative. A full list of resident-owned cooperatives in NewHampshire is available at http://www.com- munityloanfund.org/how-we-help/roc-nh/nh- cooperatives. 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