Clarks Grove, MN (November 18, 2015) – Members of Hillcrest Community Cooperative in Clarks Grove, Minnesota are celebrating a new milestone in affordable homeownership and community empowerment in Minnesota – the state’s eighth manufactured home park cooperative. Staff members from Northcountry Cooperative Foundation (NCF), a nonprofit organization supported the residents’ efforts to buy their community.  NCF is part of a national network of cooperative development organizations called ROC USA Network.  NCF has worked closely with residents since May 2015 to help them organize the cooperative, negotiate for, evaluate, and finance the purchase of the commercial property.  As of yesterday, Hillcrest Community Cooperative now owns and will operate the 97-unit manufactured housing community.  The Cooperative’s property includes a storage shed, office, four apartment units and an underground storm shelter.  With this purchase, there are now close to 600 home sites in resident-owned manufactured housing communities between Minnesota and Wisconsin. 

Five Lakes Cooperative recently installed new signs for their entrance and office. The Cooperative held a contest and asked any interested residents in submitting a design. There were two designs chosen and the final product was a combination of the two.