April 12, 2021 – The Tennessee Housing Development Agency has announced twelve individuals and organizations as 2021 Tennessee’s Best Award recipients.
The Tennessee’s Best awards honor outstanding contributors on behalf of affordable housing, whether producing, designing, developing, financing, promoting housing policy or inspiring others to serve Tennesseans’ housing needs.
THDA Executive Ralph Perrey said this year’s group of honorees are what the awards are all about.
“We are grateful to present these awards to this year’s recipients while at the same time shedding a light on the efforts being done statewide to provide safe and affordable housing for all Tennesseans,” Perrey said. “Despite the pandemic, and in an effort to curve its effects, each of this year’s honorees have shown the desire to better the lives of others, and we are pleased to recognized them.”
Winners for the 2021 Tennessee’s Best awards and their category include:
- Regional Impact Award: Clinch Powell RC&D and HomeSource for their Cares Act Collaborative Project. The organizations received $1.7M in mortgage, rent and utility assistance funds from the federal CARES Act to help with housing and utility payments in 2020 for those affected by the pandemic. Together the organizations served 16 counties in 2020.
- Neighborhood Stabilization: Emerald Housing Partners LLC, for their partnership with the City of Cleveland to build a brand-new 87-unit development for residents of an existing building, which will then be converted to another use by the city. The new development, Cleveland Court, is an 87-unit complex and will serve the elderly and individuals with disabilities.
- Legacy Award: Rusty Lawrence, founder of Urban Housing Solutions in 1991, recently retired in November 2020 after a long career of positively impacting Nashville housing. Urban Housing Solutions, the largest non-profit provider of affordable housing in Nashville, provides nearly 1,400 affordable apartments for low-income households as well as supportive services for residents with social and health needs.
- Housing Leadership Award: Archie Willis for his leadership with ComCap Partners’ affordable housing and community development financial advisory. Since its inception in 1999, the firm has served as financial advisor to numerous nonprofit sponsors and private developers, financing more than 4,200 affordable housing units and other community development projects
- Director’s Award: This year’s Director’s award is presented to seven Continuum of Care organizations who stepped up to figure out how to address the scope and scale of the pandemic using THDA’s $50,000 in emergency funding in their communities to protect vulnerable populations. Whether addressing the needs of an individual or family, these organizations helped provide food, shelter, necessities and medical and health needs for the homeless population in their communities. Recipients are Appalachian Regional Coalition on Homelessness (ARCH), West Tennessee Healthcare Foundation, Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition, Housing, Health & Human Service Alliance of Rutherford County (H3ARC), City of Knoxville’s Office on Homelessness, Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA), Community Alliance for the Homeless, Tennesse Valley Coalition for the Homeless, Crossville Housing Development Corporation, and Community Housing Partnership of Williamson County
Tennessee’s Best awards are given to individuals or organizations whose work makes a meaningful impact on the state of affordable housing in Tennessee.
Tennessee Best awards are traditionally presented as part of the annual Tennessee Housing Conference (THC), which was created to allow housing professionals from throughout Tennessee and across the nation to network, discuss best practices and work on issues related to affordable housing.