FORT MYERS, Fla. (August 21, 2015) – The Housing Authority of the City of Fort Myers was awarded Outstanding Agency of the Year and Best Newsletter at the Florida Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (FAHRO) 2015 Conference and Tradeshow in Orlando last week.
The outstanding agency award was judged on the agency’s commitment to solving housing and associated community problems, innovation, industry involvement, affiliations with state and federal associations, and High Performer classification from HUD.
“Florida’s housing agencies have the responsibility to serve as many of our most vulnerable citizens as possible with extremely limited resources,” said Corey G. Mathews, FAHRO’s executive director. “The Housing Authority of the City of Fort Myers, under the leadership of Executive Director Marcus Goodson, has been a beacon of innovation and inspiration in its accomplishments by expanding its reach in housing its community, and its peers are excited to recognize their success.”
“Since joining the HACFM in 2002, Executive Director Marcus Goodson has led his team to convert what was previously a troubled housing authority to one of the most accomplished in the state and country,” said Fort Myers Mayor Randy Henderson in his recommendation letter. “It’s commendable what this housing authority has achieved in recent years including developing the Renaissance Preserve community, the largest affordable-housing development project in the history of Southwest Florida. Projects also include the 120-unit senior housing complex, Covington Meadows Apartments in Lehigh Acres, a new administrative building and Community Supportive Services building, the Broadway Apartments and the opening of the new Landings at East Pointe and East Pointe Place just this past fall.”
“This housing authority has excelled because of the unwavering support and leadership of our board of commissioners and the commitment from each employee to give his or her very best to this agency regardless of what is asked of them,” said Goodson.
The Florida Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials was established nearly 70 years ago as a means of exchanging information for the purpose of improving low-income and affordable housing, and community services. Since then, FAHRO has grown to represent more than 200 housing agencies, community development agencies and associate members who work together to ensure that all of Florida’s citizens have clean, safe and affordable housing.
The Housing Authority of the City of Fort Myers serves as a catalyst for increasing access to safe, stable and sustainable housing and to help develop, preserve and revitalize communities through affordable rental housing. The agency is dedicated to empowering families with the means to become as self-sufficient as possible through its Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) and HOPE VI Community Supportive Services (CSS) programs, encouraging and facilitating movement toward financial independence beyond the need for HACFM services. The HACFM also aims to instill pride and a desire for an enhanced quality of life for families and serves the greater Fort Myers community in a manner that demonstrates professional courtesy, respect and caring, while recognizing the needs and limitations of the mentally and physically disabled, aged and infirmed.
For more information, call 239-344-3220 or visit www.hacfm.org.
