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American Planning Association - Opportunity and Empowerment

The HUD Secretary's Opportunity & Empowerment Award honors excellence in community planning that has led to measurable benefits in terms of increased economic development, employment, education, or housing choice and mobility for low- and moderate-income residents. The award stresses tangible results and recognizes the planning discipline as an important community resource. It emphasizes how creative housing, economic development, and private investments are used in, or in tandem with, a comprehensive community development plan.




American Planning Association - Opportunity and Empowerment

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Enterprise Green Communities
 

Columbia, Maryland

The Enterprise Green Communities initiative, founded by Enterprise Community Partners, is a national green building program focused entirely on affordable housing. It provides financing, funding, and expertise to enable developers to build or rehabilitate homes that are environmentally sustainable without compromising affordability. The initiative offers a roadmap for achieving significant health, economic, and environmental benefits for residents through cost-effective green design methods and materials.

Since 2004, Enterprise has invested $700 million to create 15,800 green affordable homes in 350 developments in 30 states. Enterprise also trained 4,000 housing professionals in green affordable development and advised more than 20 states and cities about environmentally sustainable affordable housing policies. Seven state and local green building laws and housing plans now include the Enterprise Green Communities criteria.