Seattle Housing receives awards for housing advocacy efforts
SHA advocacy director also recognized
SEATTLE—June 22, 2009—At its May regional conference the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials bestowed its Agency Advocate of the Year award on the Seattle Housing Authority. Lisa Cipollone Wolters, Seattle Housing's director of housing advocacy and rental assistance, received the Individual Advocate of the Year award.
Lisa Cipollone-Wolters (holding award), with (L to R) Saul Ramirez, Jr (NAHRO executive director), Maggie Lamont (local Pacific NW Conference president) and Renee Rooker (NAHRO president)
Seattle Housing Authority was chosen for the award because of its efforts to work with other housing authorities and low-income housing organizations across the state. The agency has consistently provided low-income residents and staff members with information about legislative issues that may impact housing.
Ron Oldham, staff director for the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of NAHRO, explained the significance of the award. "PNRC-NAHRO has created its Advocacy Awards Program to recognize individuals and organizations that have demonstrated outstanding advocacy for the cause of affordable housing. We are pleased that Seattle Housing Authority and Lisa Cipollone-Wolters were two of our first three award winners for 2009. We commend both SHA and Ms. Cipollone-Wolters for their dedicated efforts to help low-income families to have adequate and affordable places to live."
Cipollone-Walters was very active during Washington's recent legislative session, tracking issues throughout the session and meeting frequently with legislators. She also served as legislative chair for the Association of Washington Housing Authorities.
The agency's advocacy efforts are coordinated by Cipollone-Wolters with assistance from Senior Housing Policy Analyst Martha Galvez. The agency communications staff also aids these efforts through several communications tools, including a resident newspaper (The Voice) and several email newsletters.
One goal of Seattle Housing is to expand the education and voice of tenants. With this in mind, Seattle Housing recently launched a two-part advocacy training program. Part one focused on state legislative issues; the second part is focused on federal issues. The state training was followed this year by the opportunity to participate in Washington State’s annual Housing Advocacy Day in Olympia. The federal issues training will offer the opportunity to take part in meetings with congressional staff.