PHA’s Carl Greene Named 2004 Person of the Year by PAHRA

Philadelphia Housing Authority Executive Director Carl Greene was named the 2004 Person of the Year by the Pennsylvania Association of Housing and Redevelopment Agencies (PAHRA), the organization’s top honor. 

The inscription on the plaque reads in part, “Carl Greene's tireless and relentless efforts have resulted in an unprecedented level of construction of high quality affordable housing for low and modest-income citizens of Philadelphia.” Greene has overseen an unprecedented overhaul of affordable housing in Philadelphia, converting old style public housing projects into modern beautiful affordable low-rise housing. In addition, he has worked with community organizations to reform the Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8) so that it focuses on helping recipients toward economic independence.

In addition to the Person of the Year Award for the executive director, PAHRA awarded PHA two Certificates of Achievement, one for the new homes at Cambridge Plaza Phase I in North Philadelphia and the second for the redevelopment of Mt. Olivet Apartments in West Philadelphia. PHA redirected Housing Choice Voucher funding to help build both of those developments. 

Finally, PHA received a Best Practices Award for its Pre-Apprenticeship Program in the Construction Trades, a unique training program that has graduated nearly 350 PHA residents with many of them going on to well paying jobs with the building trade unions. The awards ceremonies took place at PAHRA’s annual conference, held this year in Wilkes Barre.