National Community Development Week NALHFA Member Spotlight
As NALHFA continues to celebrate Community Development Week, we will be featuring this year's submissions for the NALHFA Awards program. For over 20 years, NALHFA has been recognizing the outstanding efforts of its member agencies and non-profit organizations through our Awards program. Held in conjunction with the NALHFA Annual Educational Conference, these awards draw submissions from across the United States and in all categories of affordable housing development-single family, multifamily redevelopment, mixed-use, senior housing, and many others. The NALHFA awards committee judges submissions and final decisions will be announced at the 2017 Annual Conference.

HOME Excellence Category: Dave Wright Apartments, Allegheny County Residential Finance Authority
The Dave Wright Apartments are a new, 42-unit apartment building located in the Borough of Heidelberg consisting of one and two bedroom units. This project is unique because it is one of the first in the country to create affordable housing that integrates adults on the autism spectrum with the non-autism community.

The design of the building includes sustainability measures to reduce its environmental impact and unique features to support residents with autism. Examples of these features include an organic garden to foster health and wellness, wide corridors to reduce confrontation, large communal rooms and alcove areas in communal areas to allow controlled social interaction and privacy, multiple recreational rooms to foster independence, LED lighting to reduce sensory sensitive to direct fluorescent lighting, energy star appliances equipped with quiet sound packages to reduce sensory sensitivity, and color coding along with pictorial signage to assist residents in daily activities.

Heidelberg Apartments combines a rare affordable housing opportunity within a prosperous, suburban community, cost-saving sustainable systems, ground-breaking employment opportunities, supports tailored to adults with autism, a market-rate design that transforms a currently underutilized property into multiple gardens, and finishes and systems throughout designed to deliver a calming sensory experience for both disabled and typical residents.

HOME Excellence Category: Landings at Marine Creek, Fort Worth Housing Finance Corporation

Landings at Marine Creek is an affordable housing development situated on 15 acres in northwest Fort Worth. Designed for families, the gated community offers one, two, three, and four bedroom units ranging from 656 to 1,441 sq. ft. All 302 garden style units are affordable to households earning 80% or less of area median income (AMI) as established by HUD, with 286 of the units available to households earning 60% or less of AMI.

Nearby are several highways and major roadways, affording residents the opportunity to be closer to work, thereby reducing commute times and travel costs. This increases disposable income as well as time to enjoy the area attractions and activities, including the Stockyards, several area golf courses and lakes, and the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge.

Are you celebrating Community Development Week? Let us know! Send your stories to hvoorman@nalhfa.org and we will share your stories and events on social media.