ROC??USA????was launched in May 2008 by national and regional nonprofits that joined together to serve one mission: To make quality resident ownership viable nationwide and to expand economic opportunities for homeowners in manufactured (mobile) home communities.
Three nonprofits ??? the??New Hampshire Community Loan Fund,??Prosperity Now??(then called??Corporation for Enterprise Development)??and??Capital Impact Partners????? each made equity investments and became Members of??ROC??USA, LLC. The LLC structure is rare in the nonprofit structure. For ROC USA, it has meant strong and continuous support for our mission which simply isn???t always the case in less formal organization structures.
NeighborWorks????America??also sponsored??ROC??USA and continues to serve on the Board of Directors and align programs like the Community Leadership Institute with ROC USA.
Nine regional nonprofits ??? including the Community Loan Fund ??? represent the??Certified Technical Assistance Providers??(CTAPs) in??ROC??USA Network. From the start, a strong role for CTAPs who have a presence in local markets for in-person training as well as market development and partnership building has been critical to the mission.
With leadership from Paul Bradley, the then-vice president for manufactured housing at the Community Loan Fund, and a small national staff, these national and regional organizations created??ROC??USA, LLC as a social venture.
On a plan to scale the mission ??? to make resident ownership viable nationwide ??? the social venture received generous start-up support from??Ford Foundation??in 2007. The funding included equity for??ROC??USA????Capital, the community lending subsidiary that would close its first acquisition loan to??Champion Park??in New York within seven months of launch.
ROC??USA continues to build strong national and regional relationships in support of Resident Owned Communities as it looks to realize its vision of a country in which the owners of efficient and affordable homes are economically secure in healthy and socially vibrant resident-owned communities.
