We are now in full swing in our preparations for our 42nd Annual Gala on June 12th at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. This year we continue the trend started in 2012 by honoring the work of two organizations with the Housing Visionary Award, as well as honoring an individual with our Carl A.S. Coan, Sr. Award for Public Service to Affordable Housing. We also continue to feature the great work of our members and national partners to meet the nation’s housing challenges in local communities.Our overall theme for the Gala is Moving Housing Forward because we want the Gala to feature examples of organizations, businesses or coalitions doing great work to advance or improve housing affordability and access. Each year we will have a focus to that theme. This year’s focus, Seizing the Moment, emphasizes the key opportunities groups have now to step up to make a significant impact in the housing landscape.
This year we are presenting the Housing Visionary Award to two groups that really seized the opportunities before them to have a significant impact in a particular region of the country.
We are honoring Enterprise Community Partners and its partners in the Gulf Coast region for their work in rebuilding neighborhoods after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. They have had a tremendous impact in producing high-quality, affordable housing, and have been a significant partner in stabilizing and revitalizing whole neighborhoods in that region. Their work there continues to this day and will go forward as they continue to be a major economic force for redevelopment in the Gulf Region.
We will also honor Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) of Massachusetts for its leadership on several statewide efforts to protect and expand affordable housing in their state. Most significantly, CHAPA led a broad campaign that brought the entire housing community together in support of an expansion of state funding for affordable housing development by $1.4 billion this past fall.
Finally, this year we are presenting the Coan Award to Dianne Spaulding, who has led the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California for over 20 years. NPH is the nation’s largest regional housing advocacy organization and Dianne has established a national reputation for housing advocacy efforts that have led to historic legislation and funding in the Bay Area and California as a whole. Dianne also led NPH to create the Fellowship Program for People of Color in Non-Profit Housing, and designed award-winning communications tools to build community acceptance of affordable housing.
The evening promises to be inspirational, energizing and a great opportunity to be a part of the national gathering of the affordable housing community. Now is the time to step forward as a sponsor, purchase a table or secure your tickets for the event. If you contact Leah Logan at llogan@nhc.org this week to pledge your sponsorship, your organization’s name will be included in our print invitation, to be sent to 6,000 individuals across the U.S. I look forward to seeing you at the National Building Museum on June 12th.