CHICAGO – On April 5, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Chicago presented the 24th Annual Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards (CNDA) to recognize and honor the top community development, real estate development and architectural design projects in the city’s neighborhoods.
Preservation of Affordable Housing, a nonprofit organization that creates and restores affordable housing has won citywide recognition for its development of Woodlawn Park, a new mixed-use, mixed-income housing and commercial community in the Woodlawn section of Chicago.
“What POAH and its many community partners are accomplishing in Woodlawn is a great example – indeed a national model – of how to drive community renewal without displacing the people who already live there, said POAH President and CEO Aaron Gornstein. “We have instead used the revitalization of affordable housing as the centerpiece of progress that has grown to include affordable homeownership, a new grocery store, rising population and a sense of a brighter future.”
The Chicago Community Trust Outstanding Community Plan Award recognizes the development and successful implementation of a community plan or strategy within Cook County that improves quality-of-life or addresses a specific need, opportunity or issue through a comprehensive planning and implementation model.
Working with tenant organizations, community members, elected leaders, the City of Chicago and the business and education sectors, POAH created a neighborhood that is responsive to the people who called Woodlawn home for so many years and to new residents and businesses who are choosing to live, learn and do business here.
In 2011, with the help of a strong coalition of community-based organizations and stakeholders, POAH and the City of Chicago received a $30.5 million HUD Choice Neighborhoods Initiative grant that supported the new and renovated housing, new programs and services for residents and led to more investments in community schools, public safety, infrastructure and commercial activity.
“For more than two decades the Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards and the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design have celebrated Chicago’s neighborhoods by honoring and recognizing the outstanding achievements in neighborhood real estate development, community engagement and neighborhood planning,” said LISC Chicago’s Executive Director Meghan Harte. “At CNDA we take a moment to really recognize and celebrate the creativity and accomplishments that transform our communities. Our neighborhoods are what make Chicago the unique city it is – congratulations to this year’s winners, you have inspired us with your vision and commitment.”
Established in 1995, CNDA was created to celebrate and honor the outstanding achievements in neighborhood real estate development, architectural design and community building, as well as the essential role that both non-profit and for-profit developers play in building healthier neighborhoods throughout Chicago. CNDA is the largest and most venerated celebration of the creativity and accomplishments that transform neighborhoods across the City. During the ceremony CNDA presented six community development awards, three Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Awards for Architectural Excellence in Community Design and two awards for personal achievement to individuals. All award submissions were extensively reviewed by teams of judges.
For more information about the CNDA and to learn more about this year’s winners visit, http://www.lisc-cnda.org/.