Mission Statement

Putting sustainable homeownership within reach of everyone, while transforming the manufactured housing industry through consumer education, affordability and energy-efficiency.

Our Story

The genesis of Next Step came out of a desire to make manufactured housing a practical, sustainable solution to the housing affordability crisis facing many rural Americans.

Coming from Appalachia, our founder – Stacey Epperson – was frustrated when homeowners would ask for help with their deteriorating mobile homes, upside-down on loans and with sky high utility bills. As she looked beyond her region, she grappled with the challenge of the two million mobile homes scattered across several regions of the county; the worst housing stock in America. She posed the question: “What would it take to do manufactured homes right?”

Starting as a program within our partner organization Frontier Housing, Inc., Next Step was founded on the principle of helping families gain access to a high quality, energy-efficient homes – on the best foundation – creating prepared, supported and educated homebuyers with the opportunity to build wealth.

In 2011, Next Step became its own 501(c)(3) organization, wholly dedicated to leveraging expertise in the manufactured housing space to building relationships between the manufactured housing industry, nonprofit housing organizations and other key stakeholders to change the perception of factory-built housing as a viable, sustainable homeownership solution.

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The genesis of Next Step came out of a desire to make manufactured housing a practical, sustainable solution to the housing affordability crisis facing many rural Americans.

Coming from Appalachia, our founder – Stacey Epperson – was frustrated when homeowners would ask for help with their deteriorating mobile homes, upside-down on loans and with sky high utility bills. As she looked beyond her region, she grappled with the challenge of the two million mobile homes scattered across several regions of the county; the worst housing stock in America. She posed the question: “What would it take to do manufactured homes right?”

Starting as a program within our partner organization Frontier Housing, Inc., Next Step was founded on the principle of helping families gain access to a high quality, energy-efficient homes – on the best foundation – creating prepared, supported and educated homebuyers with the opportunity to build wealth.

In 2011, Next Step became its own 501(c)(3) organization, wholly dedicated to leveraging expertise in the manufactured housing space to building relationships between the manufactured housing industry, nonprofit housing organizations and other key stakeholders to change the perception of factory-built housing as a viable, sustainable homeownership solution.