Lucas Metropolitan Housing is Recognized by NAHRO with Agency Award of Merit

Contact:
Coleena Ali, Vice President of Resident Services
Lucas Metropolitan Housing
419-259-9550
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Lucas Metropolitan Housing is Recognized by NAHRO with Agency Award of Merit

Toledo, Ohio, July 28, 2020 - Lucas Metropolitan Housing (LMH) was recently honored by the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment (NAHRO) with a 2020 Award of Merit for their Cooking with Commodities program. The NAHRO Awards program was created to recognize agencies who found innovative ways of making a difference in their communities by creating affordable housing, revitalizing their neighborhoods and developing initiatives such as job readiness programs, public-private partnerships, disaster prevention projects and more.

LMH partners with SeaGate Food Bank of Northwest Ohio to provide monthly commodities (free food pantry items) onsite for its public housing residents. Cooking with Commodities is a teaching program that utilizes these pantry items and shows residents how to prepare leftover items and other foods they might not have previously prepared. As a result, there is a decrease in food waste, increase in usage of food items, and a desire to replicate the samplings.

Coleena Ali, VP of Resident Services, stated, "This program has helped our residents not only stretch their food budget but also enhance their nutrition. We are grateful to SeaGate Food Bank for their partnership on this project."

More than 30 years ago, NAHRO created the Awards of Merit program to honor their members' successes and amplify the innovative ways in which they've improved their agencies, their communities and the lives of the people they serve.

About Lucas Metropolitan Housing
Established in 1933, Lucas Metropolitan Housing (LMH) continues to provide affordable housing to adults, seniors and children in its Public Housing, Housing Choice Voucher, MixedIncome and Market Rate housing units. LMH also provides a myriad of programs and opportunities designed to improve the total quality of life for our residents, with the ultimate goal of achieving selfsufficiency. The programs and services are the results of successful collaborations with numerous community partners.

Our current housing portfolio consists of 2,633 Public Housing units; 4,657 Housing Choice Vouchers; 322 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit units; 198 Market Rate units and 107 Homeownership Properties. There are approximately 17,500 people who reside in LMH properties. Lucas Metropolitan Housing partners with ALL people and organizations willing to exchange ideas and efforts to enhance Toledo, Lucas County and the world.

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