3.28.2008 - 10:22am ET

(CSRwire) LOS ANGELES, March 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Enterprise Community Partners has officially launched the 2008 MetLife Foundation Awards for Excellence for Affordable Housing program. Created to highlight leadership, innovation and effectiveness in supportive housing and property and asset management, the awards showcase exemplary models in the industry. This year, a total of $180,000 will be granted to the award-winning organizations.

Presented by Enterprise Community Partners, the awards recognize 501(c)(3) community-based or regional nonprofit organizations and Tribes/Tribally Designated Housing Entities (TDHES) in two categories: supportive housing and property/asset management. Each category will have three winners who will receive unrestricted grant funds. First place winners will receive $40,000 each; second place winners, $30,000 each; and third place winners, $20,000 each.

Submissions for the 2008 MetLife Foundation Awards for Excellence in Affordable Housing must be received via email by midnight May 16, 2008. The awards will be presented to the six winning organizations during the Enterprise Community Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, November 19-21, 2008.

The following organizations received awards in 2007:

Supportive Housing Category

-- First Place: The Senator Hotel, Community Housing Partnership, provides 89 permanent single-room homes in San Francisco to formerly homeless individuals and families.

-- Second Place: The Rebecca Johnson Apartments, Deborah's Place, offers 90 permanent rental housing units in Chicago for formerly homeless single women who have a history of mental illness, substance abuse or a disability.

-- Third Place: Plymouth Place, Plymouth Housing Group, provides 70 eco- friendly studio apartments in downtown Seattle and a supportive housing program for single, formerly homeless adults.

Property and Asset Management Category

-- First Place: Lincoln Way II, Intercommunity Mercy Housing, provides 50 apartments in Lynnwood, Wash. for more than 200 low-income individuals, families and formerly homeless.

-- Second Place: Babcock North, Phase I, Alamo Area Mutual Housing Association, offers 138 affordable apartments in San Antonio for single
adults and single-parent households.

-- Third Place: SANA Apartments, Sheldon Oak Central Inc., an 11-building complex in Hartford, Connecticut provides more than 250 apartments for low-income families and single adults, including seniors.

For more information and/or to apply, visit http://www.enterprisecommunity.org/programs/awards

MetLife Foundation was established by MetLife in 1976 to carry on its longstanding tradition of corporate contributions and community involvement. Grants support education, health, civic and cultural programs. MetLife and MetLife Foundation have supported Enterprise's housing and neighborhood revitalization activities with grants and loans of more than $38 million. For more information about the Foundation, visit http://www.metlife.org.

Enterprise is a leading provider of the development capital and expertise it takes to create decent, affordable homes and rebuild communities. For more than 25 years, Enterprise has pioneered neighborhood solutions through public-private partnerships with financial institutions, governments, community organizations and others that share our vision. Enterprise has raised and invested more than $9 billion in equity, grants and loans to help build or preserve more than 240,000 affordable rental and for-sale homes to create vital communities. Enterprise is currently investing in communities at a rate of $1 billion a year. Visit www.enterprisecommunity.org and www.enterprisecommunity.com to learn more about Enterprise's efforts to build communities and opportunity, and to meet some of the half a million people we have helped.

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