Residents of Pleasant Park have purchased the community from the previous owner, preserving 48 affordable homes in Great Falls, Montana. Pleasant Park Community is now a resident owned community (ROC) – meaning the residents now own and manage their community.
NeighborWorks Montana guided residents through the purchase process and will continue to support them as they build the skills and leadership needed to manage their community. Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, this purchase was unique in that the entire process was completed 100% virtually! In most manufactured housing communities, homeowners own their homes and pay lot rent to the park owner for the use of the land. In resident owned communities the lot rent goes to the resident cooperative and is managed to meet community needs and maintain affordability.
Safe and stable homes are increasingly out of reach for working and low-income families in Montana. ROCs preserve an important source of unsubsidized affordable housing for working families, seniors, and people with low to moderate incomes. Owning a home in a ROC is typically half the cost of renting an apartment.
“I think trying to empower the residents to work together to create its own rules and regulations is the way to go – it gives more of a sense of ownership to the community”, said Bob Sayers, former owner of Pleasant Park.
The purchase was financed by ROC USA Capital and NeighborWorks Montana. Pleasant Park Community is the 14th resident owned community in Montana and the third in Cascade County. There are 263 ROCs nationwide. NeighborWorks Montana manages the ROC program in Montana as part of the ROC USA® Network. The ROC USA® Network is made up of eleven non-profit affiliates across the country. The ROC program helps to provide safe, secure and affordable housing in perpetuity, and it eliminates the risks for residents of rent increases or being evicted without reason.
Are you interested in knowing more about this program? Please reach out to Danielle Maiden at [email protected].