Black History Month Affordable Housing Heroes – Winners Announced!

This Black History Month, RA came together to celebrate, learn, and honor the powerful contributions of Black Affordable Housing Heroes. Thank you to everyone who participated in our Open Book Quiz — and congratulations to our winners!  Each winner was randomly selected from participants who answered every question correctly.  As a token of appreciation, breakfast is on us! Gift cards have been emailed to all winners.

Thank you for taking the time to engage, learn, and celebrate the legacy and impact of Black leaders who continue to shape our communities and the affordable housing industry.

WINNER’S CIRCLE:

1. Alicia Anderson Weldon Crossing and Welford Place
2. Melissa Dugas Royal American Management, Operations
3. Nicole Boles First Service-GL Accounting
4. Vanessa Erazo RAM Miami
5. Gloria Gillespie Peoples First Insurance

BLACK HISTORY MONTH ANSWER KEY

1. This Housing Hero was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson as the first Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the first African American Cabinet member in U.S. history?  Robert C. Weaver

2. U.S. Representative Shirley Chisholm testified before Congress in support of amendments to strengthen which piece of housing legislation?  The Fair Housing Act

3. Lisa Rice is President and CEO of the nation’s only national civil rights agency dedicated exclusively to eliminating housing discrimination.  What is the name of this agency?  National Fair Housing Alliance

4. Who made history as the first Black woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Jimmy Carter?  Patricia Roberts Harris

5. In 1968, Dorothy Mae Richardson organized her Pittsburgh neighbors to fight neighborhood decline, proving that restoring homes — not demolishing them — could rebuild communities. Based on her resident-led housing redevelopment model, Congress later established what national organization?  Neighborhood Housing Services OR “NeighborWorks”

6. What was the name of the Virginia bank founded by Maggie L. Walker that helped provide Black families access to loans and mortgages?  St. Luke Penny Savings Bank (Richmond, VA)

7. Architect Hilyard Robinson’s Aberdeen Gardens (1934) and Langston Terrace Dwellings (1935) were groundbreaking public housing projects that went beyond basic shelter. Give 2 examples of amenities / community support Robinson included in these communities to promote dignity and self-sufficiency for Black families during the era of segregation?  Any two answers were correct:  Green spaces, playgrounds, artwork, garden plots, a school, and a commercial center

8. This Harvard Law School graduate strategically dismantled segregation by challenging racially restrictive housing covenants?  Charles Hamilton Houston, Sr.

9. Which Housing Hero led bus tours through Chicago’s public housing communities so visitors could witness the impact of redevelopment and hear directly from residents?  Beauty Turner