Since 1999, the Wisconsin Collaborative for Affordable Housing, during the annual A Home for Everyone conference, has presented an award to an individual who has exhibited a life-long effort of dedication and excellence in the creation of affordable housing in Wisconsin.
This award is the Charles M. Hill, Sr. Award for Housing Excellence, named after Mr. Hill in honor of his lifetime commitment to affordable housing. Mr. Hill is the former Executive Vice President of Community Investment for the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, where he guided the bank’s affordable housing effort since the program’s inception in the late 1970s. Previous to that, Mr. Hill was critical to the development of effective housing programs emanating out of the ‘War on Poverty’ … both with local organizations and in state government.
Previous winners of the Charles M. Hill Sr. Award for Housing Excellence:
| 2023 | Walter Orzechowski | Former Executive Director, Southwestern Wisconsin Community Action Program (SWCAP) |
| 2022 | Mary Wright | President, Wisconsin Housing Preservation Corp. |
| 2019 | Martha L. Brown | Deputy Commissioner, City of Milwaukee |
| 2018 | Keith Pamperin | Former Executive Director, Housing Authority of Green Bay and Brown County |
| 2017 | Bob Jones | Executive Director, WISCAP |
| 2016 | Grace Jones | Executive Director, Couleecap |
| 2015 | Dean Loumos | Executive Director, Housing Initiatives |
| 2014 | Joe Schirmer | Division of Public Health, State of Wisconsin |
| 2013 | Peter Kilde | Executive Director, West CAP |
| 2012 | Dan O’Connell | Executive Director, Astar Capital Management |
| 2011 | Marty Evanson | Director, Bureau of Supportive Housing, State of Wisconsin |
| 2010 | Dave Porterfield | Real Estate Developer, Movin’ Out |
| 2009 | Brenda Konkel | Executive Director, Tenant Resource Center |
| 2009 | Bill Perkins | Executive Director, Wisconsin Partnership for Housing Development |
| 2008 | Judy Wilcox | Section Chief, Bureau of Supportive Housing, State of Wisconsin |
| 2007 | Organization Award | Milwaukee Housing Trust Fund Coalition |
| 2006 | Sandy Devlin | US Dept of Housing and Urban Development, Wisconsin Field Office |
| 2005 | Marcie Brost | Housing Specialist, Department of Health |
| 2004 | Kim Terry | Housing Educator and Advocate |
| 2003 | Fritz Ruf | Former Executive Director, WHEDA |
| 2002 | Karl Pnazek | President and CEO, CAP Services |
| 2001 | Bob Moser | US Dept of Housing and Urban Development, Wisconsin Field Office |
| 2000 | Tim Radelet | Attorney, Foley & Lardner LLP |
| 1999 | John Franzen | Executive Director, Oshkosh Housing Authority |
At the first A Home for Everyone conference in 1997, Carmen Porco, CEO of Housing Ministries of American Baptists – Wisconsin, received a statewide housing achievement award. In 1998, at the second housing conference, an award of appreciation was given to Charles M. Hill, Sr., Executive Vice-President of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago. The following year, in 1999, the Charles M. Hill, Sr. Award for Housing Excellence was instituted.