In late March, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago presented a 2017 Community First Award to the Sokaogon Chippewa Housing Authority (SCHA) of Crandon, WI. SCHA Executive Director Jeff Ackley accepted the award and received a check for $10,000 for SCHA’s work strengthening its community through affordable housing initiatives.
(Pictured from left to right are: Matt Feldman, president and CEO, Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago; Michal Czopczyc, vice president and manager of community lending, Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago; Chris Coppens, vice president, Bay Bank; Jeff Bowman, president and CEO, Bay Bank; Jeff Ackley, executive director and tribal administrator, Sokaogon Chippewa Housing Authority; Dianne Zubella, executive vice president, Bay Bank; Robert Jossie, chairman, Bay Bank; and Roger Lundstrom, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Member, Community, and Financial Services, Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago)
Travois nominated SCHA for the project award for successfully undertaking two large-scale developments on the Mole Lake Indian Reservation in rural Wisconsin: Sokaogon Homes #2, which built 20 new single-family homes; and Sokaogon Supportive Residences, a former motel transformed into 24 units of housing.
(Photos in the gallery are copyrighted by Ryan Siemers, 2016.)
Bay Bank has supported the projects by providing construction loans and sponsoring Affordable Housing Program (AHP) awards to supply critical gap financing. Jeff Bowman from Bay Bank helped present the award to Jeff Ackley and SCHA.
“I can’t begin to thank the whole Travois team and countless others for their hard work, believing in us (Sokaogon), your relentless time commitments and dedication in making our two projects a huge success,” Ackley said. “I truly appreciate each and every one of you who were involved in our process and may our continual efforts to serve others stay strong as ever!”
Travois is extremely proud to have been involved in these award-winning projects as the development consultant for successful awards of tax credits and grant funds, as architect, and monitoring construction work. We remain involved in the projects as homes are rented and through the compliance phase.
We congratulate SCHA and Bay Bank on their hard work and look forward to continuing our partnerships in the years to come!
Read the news release for more information and a list of other award winners.
SCHA’s accomplishments were also recently highlighted in the January/February issue of Affordable Housing Finance magazine. In an article titled “Native American Communities Explore New Territory,” Jeff Ackley told the project’s story.
Travois CEO Elizabeth Glynn and John Galfione, vice president at RBC, were also interviewed.
Read the article here: Native American Communities Explore New Territory