CAHEC Honors Affordable Housing Champions at 2026 Awards

CAHEC, a community investment organization based in Raleigh, NC, and Columbia, SC, celebrated its 2026 award recipients during the annual Partners Conference Awards Luncheon on June 9 in downtown Raleigh. The awards honor individuals and organizations that have made a meaningful impact on affordable housing and community development across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. Among the honorees were Valley River Apartments, named Development of the Year, a 56-unit affordable housing community in Murphy, NC, developed by Western North Carolina Housing Partnership and FGM Development, LLC. This project marked Cherokee County's first Low-Income Housing Tax Credit award in a decade and its first new-construction LIHTC development in 26 years, addressing critical housing needs in Western North Carolina.

The Resident Spotlight Award went to Piok Chier, a high school freshman living at Partridge Pointe Apartments in Louisville, KY. Piok has become a leader in resident programming through CAHEC's partnership with the local YMCA, helping coordinate weekly youth activities such as soccer camps and educational events. He also volunteers with the Chestnut Street Family YMCA Summer Camp and participates in programs like Men of Quality, the Black Achievers Teen Senate, and Kentucky Refugee Ministries. The Outstanding Community Impact award was given to the North Florida School of Special Education (NFSSE), which received $10.25 million in NMTC allocation from CAHEC New Markets in 2019. NFSSE serves about 248 students and over 100 post-graduates with intellectual and developmental differences, achieving a 56.2% job placement rate through vocational training and social enterprises like Berry Good Farms.

First Bank was named Investor of the Year for investing over $34 million across nine CAHEC-sponsored funds over 15 years, growing from $1 billion to $12 billion in assets. The bank also served as a construction lender on several CAHEC-syndicated developments. The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Steve Rosenblatt, who founded Spectrum Seminars and Spectrum Compliance, created the Rural Development STAR designation and the C3P Section 42 training program, and has trained tens of thousands of affordable housing professionals. CAHEC's product areas include low-income housing tax credits, historic tax credits, new markets tax credits, and renewable energy credits, as well as loan programs and resident wellness initiatives. For more information, visit CAHEC's website.