ORLANDO, FL - As the International Builders Show kicks off at the Orange County Convention Center, multifamily builders, developers, owners and managers gathered to honor one of their longest standing icons. The highlight of a day of meetings and conferences for the Multifamily Industry was the presentation of the Robert J. Corletta Award for Achievement in Affordable Housing to Wilfred N. Cooper, Sr. Mr. Cooper was not only recognized for his decades of extraordinary work in bringing affordable housing to the country on a grand scale, but also for his dedication to issues of national health.
The Corletta Award is given jointly by Neighborhood Development Collaborative (NDC), a national nonprofit affordable housing organization organized by Bob Corletta, and the Multifamily Council of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). On hand for the presentation were Kathleen Corletta, widow of Bob Corletta, Robert F. Nielsen, Chairman of NAHB, David P. Cole, Chief Operating Officer of NDC and Stillman D. Knight, Chairman of the Multifamily Council.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Nielsen noted the impact Bob Corletta had on him and many other leaders in the multifamily industry by recruiting them as affordable housing advocates not just in their own states but also on a national level to utilize the power and resources of NAHB. He then introduced Mrs. Corletta who entertained the crowd with personal anecdotes about her husband and his work at NAHB and NDC. This she followed with her expression of pride in having the Corletta Award going to one of Bob's peers who had the same great sense of direction for providing affordable housing with high standards for quality and community living. "It is no small detail," she explained "that the award is an engraved brass compass."
Mrs. Corletta then surprised the representatives of Whirlpool, the sponsor of the event, with an endorsement of its appliances based upon years of "personal testing."
In her presentation, Mrs. Corletta enumerated some of Mr. Cooper's many accomplishments, highlighting his activities as:
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Founder, Chairman of the Board and a Director of WNC & Associates, Inc. which sponsors investments in affordable housing tax credits serves as a general partner with expertise in structuring investment funds.
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An affordable housing industry expert who has testified before committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
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A Senior Life Director of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), a National Trustee for NAHB's Political Action Committee and a past Chairman of NAHB's Multifamily Council.
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A Life Trustee of the National Housing Conference (NHC) and a co-founder and Director of the California Housing Consortium (an affiliate of NHC).
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A member of the Board of Directors for the Building Industry Association of Orange County (BIA/OC) and the Southern California Building Industry Association (BIA/SC).
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The 2001 recipient of the Limited Income Communities (LINC) Housing Honors award.
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A 2011 inductee in the Affordable Housing Hall of Fame sponsored by Affordable Housing Finance magazine.
Mr. Cooper also volunteers his time with several non-profit organizations and serves on the Board of Advisors for Jamboree Housing (a non-profit developer of affordable housing), the Board of Directors for Volunteers of America and as a Director of the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance.
Neighborhood Development Collaborative is a national nonprofit corporation that uses private and public financing to acquire, rehabilitate, construct, renovate, and preserve affordable rental housing stock in communities with working class and moderate-income populations and changing neighborhoods.
NAHB is a trade association that helps promote the policies that make housing a national priority. Since 1942, NAHB has been serving its members, the housing industry, and the public at large. NAHB has a long history in the industry and with serving its members. NAHB's various groups analyze policy issues, work toward improving the housing finance system, and analyze and forecast economic and consumer trends.
For over four decades, WNC has provided the experience, leadership, innovation and flexibility to make affordable housing a reality across the country. With an ability to close transactions quickly and efficiently, WNC excels by drawing on its unparalleled experience and longevity in the industry and extensive access to capital. WNC’s senior officers average 21 years with the company and 25 years in the real estate industry. Its investor base exceeds 19,500 institutional and retail clients, including Fortune 500 companies, multinational banks and some of the nation’s leading insurance companies. Today, WNC has more than $5 Billion of real estate assets acquired including over 1,100 properties in 45 states.