2023 VAGHC Housing Award Winners

Best Homeownership Development

Legacy Phase I

New Road Community Development Group Inc.

This project is the first part of the larger three-phase Legacy project, which seeks to revitalize a 30-acre neighborhood, one of the largest developments on the Eastern Shore. Phase I entailed the completion of six houses, phase II includes the completion 51 units of rental and homeownership units, and phase III will bring 16 fee simple duplexes in a total of eight buildings, as well as 25 units in two, three-story buildings. Phase Iwas the heaviest lift of the project, located in the heart of the neighborhood and setting the stage for future development. 

Best Housing Program or Service Award

Community First
Miriam's House

Community First is a rapid re-housing program that provides both housing assistance and supportive services to homeless families with children and unaccompanied youth (ages 18-24). This program covers the household’s initial housing costs and provides wrap-around support including a Housing Case Manager and a housing stability plan. Community First is the only rapid re-housing program serving families and youth in central Virginia and has grown its service capacity 224% since 2015. 

Best Multifamily/Rental Housing Development

Woodlawn School Apartments
The Landmark Group

The Woodlawn School Apartments project is the adaptive reuse of the historic Woodlawn School, yielding in 51 high-quality affordable rental units in a high-need area. The life cycle for the Woodlawn School Building began in 1878, and the school was divided into seven different sections indicating the periods in which they were built, requiring specific and challenging rehabilitation. The building now also serves as a polling place and a recreational facility for county residents. 

Innovation in Housing

Floyd County & Citizens Telephone Co-op
Floyd County and Citizens Telephone Co-op Countywide Broadband Expansion 

This three-phased project will provide broadband access to 1,570 previously unserved homes, businesses and community anchor institutions through state-funded areas alone, achieve universal broadband access in Floyd. These efforts were complimented by Floyd County and Citizens Telephone Cooperative utilizing the Line Extension Customer Assistance Program (LECAP) to ensure affordability for low- and moderate- income residents. Because of this work, Floyd County will be the first of a handful of rural counties to achieve universal broadband in the Commonwealth.

Housing Leadership Award

Dr. Margot Ackermann

Homeward

Dr. Ackermann serves as Director of Research and Evaluation for Homeward, where she has worked for over 15 years. Since 2007, she has worked to make federally required data collection efforts more user-friendly and relevant for program delivery, as well as influenced the field of homeless service practitioners to invest in the ability to collect and analyze program data in order to continually improve and enhance how we tackle the crisis of homelessness. Dr. Ackermann’s ability to incorporate and integrate person-centered data that both meets regulatory requirements and amplifies the voices of marginalized populations has transformed how Virginia and local public and private agencies work together to understand the needs of Virginians facing homelessness and housing instability. She has raised the bar for data-driven decision-making while making it possible for local homeless assistance agencies and our public sector partners to reach the raised bar.