Our Goals

Bridge to Resident Ownership

Throughout our geographic region (Aspen to Parachute), there are at least 55 Mobile Home Parks (MHP) with vibrant communities. Closure of manufactured home communities is always a threat but is particularly pronounced when there is a boom in commercial development, as developers eye these communities as prime targets for strip malls or office buildings. And because MHP residents own their homes but not the land under them, they are vulnerable to volatile changes, including:

  • Closure of the community — the landowner can decide to put the land to some other use

  • Unbearable rent hikes — the homeowners in manufactured home communities pay rent for the land on which their homes sit and there are little to no effective protections against confiscatory rent increases that can force homeowners out by making the lot rent unaffordable

  • Dilapidation — community owners may fail to maintain the property, allowing the roads, grounds, and water and sewer system to deteriorate until the community becomes an eyesore, if not a health hazard

  • Above market value purchase — when an MHP is listed for sale, there is often a bidding war between out-of-state hedge fund developers and, even if the residents were able to pull together an offer, there is no incentive for the seller to select theirs over a higher, more competitive on

Through an interventionary model, the RFCDC aims to purchase vulnerable MHPs and give the Residents the time and the tools to purchase directly from the RFCDC at an affordable rate. This bridge to Resident Ownership is an iterative model and we're learning alongside the Residents with the goal to set them up for success and share the knowledge gained along the way with others across the region and state.

Our Team

  • Brianda Cervantes

    Community Organizer & Property Manager

    Brianda is joining the Roaring Fork Community Development Corporation as a Community Organizer & Property Manager. She grew up in the city of Tepic, Nayarit Mexico, and graduated with a degree in law from Universidad Autonoma de Nayarit. She practiced law for four years before moving to Glenwood Springs in 2013. Brianda helped launch the first fully bilingual school in the Roaring Fork School District, the Riverview School, as a community liaison. After two years at Riverview School, she moved to the Family Resource Center of the Roaring Fork Schools where she launched a project to strengthen parent voice, leadership and advocacy using community organizing tools. She is dedicated to language justice and has worked on a Language Access Project. Brianda serves the broader valley community by serving on numerous councils and committees while providing consultation to partners. Brianda also sits on the board of Mountain Voices Project and YouthZone.

  • Sydney Schalit headshot

    Sydney Schalit

    Executive Director

    Sydney Schalit is an established leader, known for guiding representative and diverse teams with integrity, optimism and a growth-mindset. She is a passionate, equity focused, dynamic problem solver who sees resident ownership as a model that could preserve dozens of mobile home communities throughout the Western Slope with an understanding that the current model needs to be redesigned, collaboratively, with MHC residents and social impact investors. She serves as the Executive Director of the Roaring Fork CDC and MANAUS as well as the Board Chair of Mountain Family Health Centers and a Board Member of the Carbondale & Rural Fire Protection District. In her free time, she enjoys learning conversational Spanish and spending time outdoors with her husband and friends.

Our Board of Directors

Executive Director Sydney Schalit

Tiger Hudson, Board Treasurer

Andy Kadlec, Board Chair

Omar “Art” Williams, Board Secretary

Rob Pew

Dr. Adriana Alvarez, Ph.D.

Kelly McNichoals Kurry

Carlos A. Herrera Montero

Kimbo Brown-Schirato

Thank You to Our Major Donors & Financial Partners

We couldn’t do this important work without the incredible support of our donors

The Melony & Adam Lewis Donor Advised Fund at the Aspen Community Foundation

The Dornick Foundation

The Alpenglow Foundation

The Western Colorado Community Foundation

The Impact Development Fund

The Colorado Housing & Finance Authority Technical Assistance Grant