BEST AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMMUNITIES HONORED.

From the mean streets of inner cities to a California farm labor camp right out of the Grapes of Wrath, the winners of this year's Tax Credit Excellence Awards for the best affordable housing development took on the toughest housing challenges and made them look easy.

The Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition presented the fourth annual awards in Washington, D.C., recently, awarding the best housing developed using federal affordable housing tax credits.

Casa Heiwa, one of the first new developments in down-town Los Angeles in many years, was the winner in the metropolitan housing category. This community provides not only shelter for its multi-ethnic residents, but also computer training, English as a second language classes, and day and after-school care for children. The 100 apartment homes range from studios to four-bedrooms, with rents from $240 to $464 a month. Maximum household incomes range from 35 to 50 percent of median. The community includes two townhouse-style units with 'granny flats.'

Eden House/Promise Place, a downtown Washington, D.C., community that combines 53 units of service-enriched family housing and a service center for homeless women, won the award in the special needs housing category.

Jardines del Valle in Watsonville, California, once an overcrowded farm labor camp known as Murphy's Camp, won the award for rural housing. Considered a health threat for years, the community underwent a $2.2 million rehabilitation that was completed without displacing any residents. Mid-Peninsula Housing Coalition sponsored the rehab, with help from Merritt Community Capital, a nonprofit equity fund based in Oakland, and Santa Cruz County housing officials.

The winning communities received awards of $5,000, to be used to bring additional services, facilities, or amenities into the communities to benefit residents. U