Pittsburg business wins state housing award

The Kansas Housing Conference, which has been taking place in Pittsburg, honored work being done in the city with the 2008 Ad Astra Best of the Best Award Wednesday night.
The three-day Kansas Housing Conference annually distributes the Ad Astra Awards for excellence in housing and community development. The conference, and the awards, are meant to encourage and promote the idea of affordable housing for Kansans. Each award comes with a $500 gift.
“Across Kansas and most of the nation, as wages don’t increase and prices and the cost of living do increase, it’s harder to find affordable, safe housing,” said Mary Ontko, conference organizer. “There are a lot more jobs being created in low- to moderate-income range. It’s important that these workers have a decent place to live.”
The final award of the night was distributed to CHOICES of Pittsburg “for helping to revitalize downtown Pittsburg, creating quality/affordable rental housing, helping individuals experiencing homelessness find emergency housing, and for providing child care and disability services.”
The group received the Best of the Best Award after being nominated and going through a review committee, who chose CHOICES for the recognition. Accepting on behalf of the entire project was Steven Lohr, Southeast Kansas Community Action Program executive director, who thanked all the support in the development, which “eliminated blight in the downtown and renovated six apartments,” according to the award details.
“I think this is a culmination of all that hard work,” Lohr said. “Tonight’s the recognition of all the blood, sweat, and tears that went into this project. I feel completely comfortable accepting this on behalf of them. It’s a good way to get recognized on both a state and a national level.”
The $500 award was given to SEK-CAP.
Other award recipients included:
• State Sen. Derek Schmidt, R-Independence, and state Rep. Dennis McKinney, D-Greensburg, shared the Outstanding Housing Advocate Award for helping to push a statewide housing development grant program.
Schmidt said the two had not expected to push housing, but teamed up after “all [McKinney’s] houses blew away and all mine washed down the river.” The lawmakers donated their monetary award to the Salvation Army.
• John Harvey, City Vision Ministries executive director, was honored with the Affordable Housing “Trail Blazer” Award for the non-profit urban development organization working in Kansas City, Kan. The $500 went to City Vision Ministries.
• The Shelter Plus Care Program in Topeka, which is designed to provide rental assistance to homeless people with disabilities as a means to self-sufficiency, received the Excellence in Program Development Award. The city of Topeka gave their $500 to Topeka Rescue Mission.
• The Excellence in Partnership Award was given to Bartell Place Senior Residences in Junction City for saving an historic hotel from being demolished and turning it into safe, affordable housing with modern amenities. Homestead Affordable Housing was awarded the $500.
• The Highland Ridge Apartments in Manhattan received the Achievement in Affordable Housing Development Award (urban) for creating 144 units of safe housing in the Manhattan and Fort Riley areas. The monetary award was given to the Topeka Habitat for Humanity.
• The Achievement in Affordable Housing Development Award (rural) was given to the Washburn Towers in Ottawa for converting abandoned 1917 and 1927 school buildings into senior housing and community spaces over the course of eight years. The $500 was given to the Friends of Historical Buildings, Inc.

Andrew Nash can be reached at andrew.nash@morningsun.net or by calling 231-2600 ext. 132.