LONGVIEW — For years, Margaret Vockrodt and her neighbors at the Columbia Trailer Court asked in vain for the park manager and owner to repair leaking water lines, solve drainage problems and tear down an empty ramshackle home.

Their requests were often ignored, and the park off Oregon Way was plagued by patches of overgrown weeds, buildings chipping paint and unfilled lots.

But in the last few months, Vockrodt and the other tenants in the 37-lot park have created a laundry room, spruced up the bathrooms and painted the office building. And a sense of pride is washing over the park, prompting residents to start sprucing up their lots, too.

The transformation is occurring because residents were able to buy the park under a state program meant to preserve low-income housing and brake the rise of homelessness. Tenants have renamed the place Columbia Court Homeowners Cooperative, the first mobile home co-op in Cowlitz County assisted by nonprofit ROC Northwest.

Darrin Lucas, resident and co-op board treasurer, said they’re trying to bring the park to a higher standard.