The National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) recently honored Bangor Housing and Bath Housing with 2018 Awards of Merit in the Client Services category. Bangor Housing was recognized for Families Forward; Bath Housing was recognized for Comfortably Home.
Families Forward is a two-generation, whole family approach that combines economic support to parents, parent capacity building, child development, education and social-emotional early and out-of-school learning to significantly improve outcomes for parents, children, and families. Families Forward’s goal is to provide knowledge, resources, connection, and incentives that meet the needs of both generations in order to achieve better outcomes for parents and their children.
Comfortably Home offers comprehensive, individualized, high-impact home modifications for older adults that own their own homes. The goal of Comfortably Home is to extend the time low-income seniors can stay safety in their homes with improved health outcomes and decreased medical costs. The pilot phase documented that a per home investment of $2,147 had positive outcomes in fall prevention, fire risk reduction, reduced hospitalizations, increased independence and a relief of financial burden.
“Bangor Housing and Bath Housing play important roles in their communities, helping low-income individuals and families find safe, affordable housing. Bangor Housing’s Families Forward program takes a holistic approach to improving the wellbeing of families, while Bath Housing’s Comfortably Home program helps seniors remain in their own homes for as long as possible,” said Senators Collins and King. “We commend Bangor Housing and Bath Housing on receiving these distinguished awards for their work to achieve positive outcomes for Mainers.”
“These agencies have put a lot of thought, creativity and hard work into helping residents improve their lives and into revitalizing their local communities,” said NAHRO President Carl S. Richie, Jr. “I am proud to celebrate their achievements.”
The NAHRO Awards of Merit program was created 19 years ago to recognize agencies who found innovative ways of making a difference in their communities and in the lives of the people they serve by creating affordable housing, revitalizing their neighborhoods, and developing initiatives such as job readiness programs, public-private partnerships, disaster prevention projects, and more.
“Our industry is continuously innovating to address changing local needs and to create new opportunities in their communities,” said NAHRO CEO Adrianne Todman, “Congratulations to this year’s top innovators!”
Contact: Debora Keller, Executive Director, Bath Housing at (207)443-3116 or Michael Myatt, Executive Director, Bangor Housing at (207)942-6365.
About NAHRO
NAHRO, established in 1933, is a membership organization of nearly 20,000 housing and community development agencies and professionals throughout the United States whose mission is to create affordable housing and safe, viable communities that enhance the quality of life for all Americans, especially those of low- and moderate-income. NAHRO’s membership administers more than 3 million housing units for 7.6 million people.