The Cooperative Development Institute is proud to announce that Nora Gosselin will be the new Market Development & Acquisition specialist for CDI’s New England Resident Owned Communities program. Nora, who joined CDI in October of 2019, had previously worked as a Cooperative Housing Specialist. In that role, she provided post-purchase technical assistance and training to seven resident-owned communities throughout southeastern MA. She also worked with eight different resident groups who, facing the sale of their community, organized to exercise their rights and explore a resident purchase.
In her new position, Nora will be working with state teams to create market development plans, and to build the relationships needed for increasing opportunities for residents to cooperatively purchase the communities they call home. In addition, Nora will continue her excellent work with pre-acquisition boards through the purchase process and dig deeper into policy advancement in support of affordable housing across the Northeast.
Congratulations, Nora!
“I’m looking forward to working with both sellers and with resident groups through the purchase process. After witnessing what it looks like for residents to buy and become community owners together in a matter of months, I’m humbled by the opportunity to spread and promote that model,” said Nora.
Welcome to the NEROC Team!
CDI is also excited to announce that Pat Schwebler will be joining the New England Resident Owned Communities program. Pat is a Cooperative Development Specialist for CDI’s NEROC program serving Maine. Her background is in real estate, finance, nonprofits, and business management. Working as a realtor in an urban setting, she recognized that the local real estate community ignored new immigrants. So, she developed an educational first-time homebuyer program and helped over 50 New Americans secure their first home. After relocating to Maine, 27 years ago, she served as co-chair of a nonprofit that provided emergency shelter to victims of domestic violence. Through vision work with staff and the board, she helped create a strategic plan that provided transitional housing for survivors of domestic violence. Before joining CDI, she was executive director of a senior center and worked to improve community conditions for the elderly. She helped create Kennebunk’s free medical equipment loan closet and served on Kennebunk’s Committee on Aging. Pat obtained her B.A. in Communications and graduate certificate in grant writing from the University of Southern Maine. She believes that homeownership provides security, builds personal wealth, and creates connections and community, improving the quality of life.
It’s great to have you on board, Pat!