Improving Communities, One ROC at a Time
When we help resident-owned communities (ROCs) purchase their parks, we’re with them for the long haul. In Tamworth, N.H., that means supporting the Tamworth Pines Cooperative as they secured grant funding to upgrade their water and septic systems.
Tamworth Pines Cooperative, located between the Lakes Region and the White Mountains in Tamworth, already had aging water and septic systems when they become a resident-owned cooperative in 2006. Since then, they’ve paid for expensive maintenance and numerous repairs across the 54-unit park, including annual pumping for septic tanks and digging up water lines.
The cooperative’s board of directors didn’t want to raise lot rent so they decided to write a grant to pay for upgrades. The process took many hours of work, including the afternoon that President Kurt Dube and Secretary Jessica Perkins (pictured above) knocked on all 54 doors to get signatures that proved the park’s financial need.
The park received nearly $2 million from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for water and sewer improvements and the project began in June.
When ARPA was enacted in 2021, it was a significant new source of potential funding for much-needed infrastructure upgrades in local resident-owned communities to improve health, safety, and environmental conditions. Since then, our ROC-NH team has helped 30 ROCs access $31 million in ARPA funds, including Tamworth Pines.
Most of the projects fund improvements to a ROC’s drinking water and wastewater systems. Older pipes are often made of materials that are no longer safe for drinking water or they cause leaks, making the systems inefficient and expensive.
Boosting Safety, Health & Bottom Line with Upgrades
“Right now, we have to manually go down and read the pumps every day,” Jessica said. “We won’t have to do that anymore. Everything’s going to be a little more modern.”
“It’s just going to make our lives easier.”
Jessica also hopes that the improved systems will save the community money — they won’t need to pump out septic systems as often or pay for waterline repairs.
“Having that buffer in our savings means we can keep our rents affordable… We have a very working community. They really can’t afford it and especially right now in these times,” Jessica said.
She’s proud that the cooperative hasn’t increased its lot rent since 2019. They also hope to continue saving for future infrastructure needs once the project is completed this fall.
Michelle Stevens, Community Loan Fund infrastructure projects specialist, said the ROC-NH team is “all about empowering communities” — and Tamworth Pines Cooperative is a great example of why we believe coaching and loan services go hand in hand.
“It's one thing to go in and help communities purchase their parks and be able to control their destiny that way, but it's a whole other thing to see it in action well into the time that they've become a ROC,” Michelle said. “Watching them take care of themselves and their neighbors … that's going to sustain them for the long term.”
This article was published in the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund’s 2025 annual report.