[Columbia] Governor Carnahan presented the "Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Affordable Housing" today at the Governor’s Conference on Housing in Columbia. This is the fourth year that Governor Carnahan has given these awards to individuals and organizations in Missouri who have made outstanding contributions to the cause of affordable housing for low and moderate income Missourians. Presented in three categories, the award winners are:

• John P. (Pete) Cole, President of Blue Hills Homes Corporation, Non-Profit Award

• Housing Authority of St. Louis County, Government Sector Award

• Judy Woolverton, President of Choate Construction Co., Inc., Private Sector Award

The honorees have been instrumental in creating housing, implementing housing-related programs and helping others solve housing problems. These recipients have done a remarkable job responding to the enormous challenge of providing affordable housing. Below is a look at each of the award winners:

John P. (Pete) Cole, President of Blue Hills Homes Corporation has created and led this organization with a strong commitment to enhancing the quality of the human condition for over 20 years. Mr. Cole has served as the President of Blue Hills Homes Corporation since 1976, and has led this Kansas City based organization in its growth from one employee in 1976 to 150 today.

He has been committed to and active in many areas including; neighborhood revitalization, affordable housing, and education. Mr. Cole has dedicated his life to the redevelopment of the urban core and to the creation of quality, affordable housing in Kansas City. Among his accomplishments are: the rehabilitation of 200 single-family housing units; the creation and rehabilitation of 300 multifamily housing units; the development of Troostwood Townhomes; the establishment of Blue Hills Federal Credit Union; the providing of daily remedial math and reading assistance to approximately 4,000 children; the providing of educational equipment and materials to over 400 schools annually; and the development of Friendship Village, which won both the 1995 Governor’s Non-Profit Award and the Federal Housing Commissioner’s Certification of Special Recognition from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Housing Authority of St. Louis County was established in 1952 and has a long and distinguished history of service to its community. They administer a wide variety of assisted-housing programs that help over 5,300 families, and they have invested $14 million in capital improvement to increase the appeal of the housing it administers. The Housing Authority of St. Louis also provides HOPE I Programs in the Highview and Meacham Park neighborhoods and will soon begin to implement a new homeownership program in Wellston.

Among the many accomplishments of the Housing Authority of St. Louis County are: the recently completed redevelopment of property around Elmwood Park that resulted in 128 new and reconstructed apartments and the construction of new single-family homes in this park thus creating a new interest and support in the area; the new community Primm Place Apartments, a 100% leased development; a partnership with a private developer to build a new 64-unit residential retired-living facility; and the future building of 27 new homes in the Meacham Park area to replace homes being bought as part of a commercial redevelopment program.

The Housing Authority of St. Louis County is currently building a Family Investment Center complete with classrooms and a gymnasium adjacent to its Springwood Development. Working together with the Division of Family Services, UMSL, the YWCA, the Urban League, the St. Louis County Dept. of Health and other social service providers, they are addressing community needs including education and training, running a Head Start program and a youth sports program.

Judy Woolverton is an urban pioneer in developing single-family for sale housing in the near North-Side area of the City of St. Louis. To date, Choate Construction, of which she is President, has sold 31 homes and has two model homes in their inventory. Most remarkable of all, this was accomplished without any construction subsidies. The homes have sold for between $100,000 and $130,000 which resulted in establishing a solid unsubsidized market value for this section of the city that was in need.

Ms. Woolverton was unable to finish school when she was young, but persevered and later went back to school obtaining her GED and a college degree in business. Because of her experience with rental rehabilitation in the City of St. Louis she thought that there was a potential untapped market for the new single-family homes in the City. In 1995, she began to develop plans for construction on Mullanphy Square and by 1996 had a model home completed. This was the first new construction of for-sale housing in the near North-side area for many years. An over abundance of public interest was generated to the point that and she was able to sell homes here from blueprints alone.

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