Fannie Mae Foundation honors Chinese Community Housing Corp. in San Francisco with National Award of Excellence

Business Wire, May 2, 1995

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 2, 1995--Chinese Community Housing Corp., San Francisco, today received national recognition and a $25,000 grant from the Fannie Mae Foundation for their exemplary approach to meeting the housing needs of low-income Americans in their community.

The Foundation honored the group at its seventh annual "Maxwell Awards of Excellence" celebration held on Capitol Hill with members of Congress and representatives of the affordable housing community. This year the Foundation's Maxwell grants totalled $250,000.

Chinese Community Housing Corp. was one of six nonprofits selected to receive top honors by a 12-member independent advisory committee. The winners were chosen from 168 applications received from 41 states and the District of Columbia. The Foundation also awarded $10,000 grants to three alternate awardees and $5,000 grants to 10 finalists. Another 24 honorable mentions each received $1,000 grants.

"These awards recognize those nonprofit sponsors who have used innovative methods to develop housing to meet the special needs of their communities. They are helping groups as diverse as migrant farmers in remote rural areas, low-income elderly women, single female heads of households, new Americans, and working poor," said James A. Johnson, chairman and chief executive officer of Fannie Mae.

Chinese Community Housing Corp. won the Maxwell award for its Tenderloin Family Housing development, the largest nonprofit-sponsored affordable housing development in San Francisco. Located at Turk and Jones Streets, the project brings 175 new apartments, including badly needed two- and three-bedroom units, for the large and growing number of families in the Tenderloin now crowded into single rooms or studio apartments.

Although a large development, the building is sensitively designed: the large family units are located on the lower three floors, in four separate clusters, with separate entrances off a secure inner courtyard. The residents are a diverse mix of Asian Americans, African-Americans, Latinos and European ethnics, many of whom are immigrants and refugees. Ten different languages are spoken in the building. Over two-thirds of the residents are at or below half of the area median income level.

"I congratulate Gordon Chin and Chinese Community Housing Corporation for its continuing contribution to San Francisco's affordable housing stock," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). "201 Turk Street is the latest of CCHC's many success stories!"

"The Chinese Community Housing Corporation is a model to the nation on affordable housing," said Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). "CCHC goes beyond simply providing shelter and instead builds communities that change and improve the lives of individuals and families. They are worthy recipients of the Maxwell Award."

CCHC was founded to expand affordable housing opportunities for low-income and homeless people in the Chinatown/North Beach community. Its housing programs include new construction, rehabilitation, and property management.

"The Tenderloin Family Housing development was built by an extraordinary coalition, including the unique partnership of a nonprofit and a for-profit developer, efforts of neighborhood activists, and funding from many entities ranging from public agencies to Fortune 500 businesses," said Gordon Chin, executive director, Chinese Community Housing Corp.

Residents of Tenderloin Family Housing receive social services, including assistance from a tenant service coordinator who arranges recreational and educational activities for the children and adults, in addition to providing assistance in cases ranging from money management, to business assistance for potential commercial tenants. Subsidized child care also is available at the building's center.

The Maxwell Awards of Excellence Program, established in 1988, was created by the Fannie Mae Foundation to encourage and recognize community-based, nonprofit groups that successfully work to develop and complete housing aimed at meeting the specific needs of low-income families and individuals. The awards are named in honor of Fannie Mae's former chairman, David O. Maxwell, for his lifelong commitment to the housing needs of low-income people.

The primary goal of the Fannie Mae Foundation is to support national and local nonprofit organizations working to provide decent and affordable housing in communities throughout the United States. The Foundation plans to make $14 million in grants in 1995. Its solo source of support is Fannie Mae, a congressionally chartered, shareholder-owned corporation and the nation's largest source of home mortgage funds. The company has committed to provide $1 trillion in targeted lending for 10 million homes by the end of the decade. The targeted lending will serve low- and moderate-income families, minorities, new immigrants, residents of central cities and other underserved areas, and people who have special housing needs. -0-

Note to Editors: Photos available upon request.