Friends of the North Country, Inc. (Friends) is a not-for-profit New York State Rural Preservation Corporation. Founded in 1981, Friends has been dedicated to sustainable development and preservation of the North Country for almost 40 years. Friends is incorporated to work throughout New York State, although our primary focus is on the North Country region of Clinton, Franklin and Essex Counties. Our staff consists of dedicated professionals with a variety of backgrounds in the fields of community development, fundraising and grant writing, affordable housing, housing counseling, construction management, infrastructure project management, and federal and state grant project management. Friends works on behalf of local governments, non-profits, and for the general community, and has been successful in generating millions of dollars in Federal, State, and private investment in local and regional housing, park, infrastructure, historic preservation and community planning projects. Friends has helped thousands of families in Clinton, Essex and Franklin Counties by rehabilitating their homes to safe, healthy living conditions. Friends pursues affordable housing opportunities and provides housing counseling for residents of the North Country. Affordable housing is a multi-faceted issue that includes the needs of the elderly, those with limited mobility, low-income households living in substandard housing, and those paying high rents, unable to break out of the tenancy cycle, and others. While Friends' primary focus is helping clients with their housing needs, Friends also participates in planning and development of community revitalization projects such as downtown redevelopment, emergency services and hazard mitigation planning, and other unique means of enhancing the area as a way to improve the quality of life in the North Country.