HUD Secretary's Opportunity and Empowerment Award Application

The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the American Planning Association (APA) have announced the criteria for the 13th annual HUD Secretary's Opportunity and Empowerment Award.

The award is part of the APA's 2010 National Awards Program, for which winners will be announced at APA's National Planning Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana on April 10-14, 2010.

The award honors excellence in community planning that has led to measurable benefits in terms of increased economic employment, education, or housing choice or mobility for low- and moderate-income residents. The emphasis of the award is on how creative housing, economic development, and private investments have been used in or with a comprehensive community development plan to produce tangible results.

Entries must be submitted online through the American Planning Association website at www.planning.org/awards/. The online application form will be available beginning June 30, 2009; the deadline for completed submissions is September 9, 2009.

The criteria, submission information, and requirements for this competition are currently available on HUD USER at www.huduser.org/research/APA10_AwardApp.pdf. APA Public Affairs Associate Roberta Rewers can be contacted by phone at 312-786-6395 or via email at rrewers@planning.org for additional information.