<em>Advocating for better homes and neighborhoods</em>
<p>CRA-NC is seeking to promote reinvestment in manufactured housing. This is a popular form of housing at affordable prices. </p>
<p><strong>One in six North Carolinians lives in manufactured housing.</strong> There are issues - from lack of consumer protections to issues around asset building - but also plenty of opportunities.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div style="width:324px;float:right;margin-left:1em;margin-bottom:1em;border: 1px gray solid;padding:2px;"><center><img src="http://www.cra-nc.org/files/burnsville96colorb.jpg" alt="1" width="320" height="213" border="0" /></center>
<p style="font-size:.7em;"><strong>The Burnsville Land Community</strong> has been redeveloped as a non-profit, controlled by residents and community
leaders, to provide affordable and secure housing for fourteen families in Yancey County, North Carolina.</p></div>
<h3>Legislative Advocacy</h3>
<p>CRA-NC participated in several legislative efforts to help residents of manufactured housing. Two bills passed in the North Carolina General Assembly in 2008.</p>
<ol><li><a href="http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2007&amp;BillID=h1134">Rep. Phillip Haire's bill on abandoned homes (H1134)</a> was passed in the Appropriations Act.<br />
<li> Rep. Susan Fisher's bill to prevent the <a href="http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2007&amp;BillID=h1700">displacement of manufactured homes (H1700)</a> passed, giving park owners that sell their communities to residents (through a co-op or a non-profit) a 5 percent deduction.</li></ol>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Park Acquisition and Rehabilitation</h3>
<p>CRA-NC has partnered with two other groups to create the first non-profit owned manufactured housing park in North Carolina.</p>
<p>Through funding from <a href="http://www.bbt.com">BB&amp;T</a> and grants from several sources, the park provides affordable housing for fourteen families in Burnsville, North Carolina.  <a href="http://www.cra-nc.org/files/Download/index.html">View a slideshow of the Park in Burnsville.</a> Make sure to turn your sound on, and click on &quot;small.&quot;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Control the Land, Control Your Destiny</h3>
We are articulating a wider political agenda through research on manufactured housing: CRA-NC believes that manufactured housing can become a significant tool within the housing stock that is affordable to working families.Our agenda seeks to address the systemic shortcomings of the land-lease park by giving residents more control over the land where their homes are located.</p>
<p>This can be achieved through a variety of strucures. Non-profit owned parks are oneway. Resident-owned cooperatives are another.</p>
<p>To get there, we need more actors to participate in manufactured housing. This includes foundations, county governments, state housing finance agencies, planners, and banks.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Media</h3>
CRA-NC's work is highlighted in <a href="http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A260769">Bob Geary's profile</a> of a park threatened by closure in Raleigh, North Carolina. Subsequently, a <a href="http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A261746">rezoning application is denied</a> and the park is saved.
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Research and Policy</h3>
<p>CRA-NC is developing policy materials to articulate the pathways to reform in this sector.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cra-nc.org/files/Download/The%20Myths%20and%20Realities%20of%20Manufactured%20Housing%20Paper.pdf">The Myths and Realities of Manufactured Housing</a>, published by the Federal Reserve, looks at the financing market for manufactured homes.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cra-nc.org/files/Download/PopularGovernment.pdf">&quot;Transforming Trailers into Assets&quot;</a> published by the University of North Carolina's School of Government, outlines how non-profit ownership can create opportunities for the revitalization of distressed parks.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cap-press.com/books/1730">This is My Home: The Challenges and Opportunities of Manufactured Housing</a>, is a resource for groups interested in understanding the issues that surround manufactured housing policy. 