Forty-Five community leaders of varied backgrounds from eight counties in Pennsylvania gathered at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland-Pittsburgh, sponsored by CFED’s (Corporation for Enterprise Development) Innovations in Manufactured Housing (I’M HOME), to discuss an initiative for improving the financial, health and environmental outcomes of residents of manufactured homes (MH). Though the numbers of MH vary county to county in Southwestern Pennsylvania, the units are proportionally older than homes elsewhere in the nation, making it an ideal testing ground to determine the effects of older factory-built homes on the health and welfare of the occupants. According to what CFED.org tells MHProNews, at the end of the conference there was a consensus that MH is vital to the region’s pressing needs for affordable and efficient housing for people of all ages. The first step will be to inventory manufactured homes in the area and determine which ones can be rehabbed and which ones need to be replaced cost effectively. ##

(Photo credit: Abbie Drey/centredailytimes.com–Penn State manufactured housing community)