HAMLET — Back in 2015, when Robert and Martha Strong took over management at the Hamlet Manufactured Home Community in Hamlet, Martha said the park wasn’t in great condition. Chickens and pigs roamed freely, trash littered homes and the roofs to the trailers looked rusty.
“I told my husband we wouldn’t be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Martha Strong said, reflecting back to when they first started managing the property. “But he said we would.”
Now, in 2019, Martha Strong and husband have made several improvements to the community, offering incentives to tenants to keep their property tidy and holding community clean-ups to keep the park welcoming.
“We want it (the park) to look presentable,” said Martha. “We’re helping improve to make it look better.”
Martha said she and her husband owned a business named RMS (Robert and Martha Strong) while living in Missouri, transporting manufactured homes where she also sold manufactured homes. They offer a similar program now, “organic move,” where they will transport a home into the community for free. It includes the transportation, installation, electrical etc.
At Hamlet Manufactured Home Community, she handles tenants — their applications, screening, etc. — and her husband handles the maintenance, vendors, landscaping and other work around the park. They also hold safety trainings for tenants to participate in.
Martha and Robert recently joined the Hamlet Business Development Association and during last month’s meeting, Martha gave them an update on their work. President Bernice Owens said she was impressed by the work Martha and her husband were able to accomplish in the park. Owens said she’s known the couple for quite some time.
“It’s remarkable what she’s done in that park,” said Owens. “Her eyes were sparkling and she had a beautiful expression on her face. She was proud.”
Martha said they joined the organization to support local businesses.
“Supporting one another is wonderful,” she said. “We should support the communities we live in and being part of the association, we get to meet other business owners.”
In April, Martha said the community will host a spring cleaning. She said tenants will clean around their houses and leave trash bags to be picked up and placed in a dumpster. As an incentive, she said the best yard will receive a cash prize.
Also during springtime, Martha said she and her husband will choose a couple of homes to get a free exterior makeover and landscaping work done to the homes. They also offer several other incentives throughout the year to fix up home exteriors and within the past year, they’ve replaced appliances in homes that needed new equipment.
In the future, Martha said she wants to see the park look like an “A-plus” community. She said they hold community events and she’ll invite tenants to events at their church. She said they will add camellia flowers around the community and a white fence to go around the outside of the park. She said they will also be remodeling their tenant’s driveways and adding gravel.
“There will always be changes to be made,” said Martha. “Things to add/take away.”
