Monday, December 2, 2024
The Uniondale Community Land Trust honored Kevin Crean, director of affordable housing and project development for the Town of Islip, for championing affordable housing initiatives, during its annual Housing Heroes awards ceremony on Oct. 17.
U-CLT is a community-based nonprofit organization “committed to revitalization and empowerment in Uniondale,” according to its website. Since 2014, the organization’s aim has been to address the continuous issue of affordable housing in Uniondale and seek to provide long-term housing stability and promote ownership by members of the community.
“There’s great instability in the housing market, and where there’s instability, it has significant repercussions,” Anestoria Shalkowski, president of U-CLT, said. “So our purpose is to provide long-term housing stability, prevent displacement and promote community ownership and stewardship of the land.”
Recognized for his work in revitalizing neighborhoods and addressing the complexities of the housing market, Crean has made a significant impact in many communities, including Uniondale, U-CLT officials said.
“Each year, we really are on a quest through our work within the community to find a hero and a champion who really shares our values in affordable housing,” Olena Nicks, U-CLT treasurer, said.
In his position at the Town of Islip, Crean works to identify new affordable housing opportunities within the town and to ensure compliance with the various federal requirements, Nicks said.
Previously, Crean, a lifelong Nassau County resident, spent 15 years as the deputy director of the Nassau County Office of Housing and Community Development, before spending five years as its director.
Crean was involved in revitalization efforts in multiple communities throughout Nassau County, including Uniondale, and assisted in overseeing the construction of more than 600 units of multi-family housing and the preservation of more than 1,000 additional rental units throughout the county, according to Nicks.
Crean described at the awards ceremony what U-CLT has done for the community over the years, including searching for “zombie houses” — residences that become vacant and abandoned while in the foreclosure and pre-foreclosure process.
“They were looking for grants to require those houses (to) stop the squatting, stop the houses that were just deteriorating and ruining the property values in the community,” he said, “and they were being outbid, or they couldn’t find out who owned the properties, because it was found out altogether that these mortgages were being sold on the secondary market.”
Crean initially connected with U-CLT during its process of trying to understand the “complicated problems” plaguing the housing market and figuring out how to get grants and funding.
He expressed his appreciation for U-CLT and other grassroots housing organizations that are actively aiding in the effort to repair the housing issues on Long Island and beyond.
“These are people that I respect (for) their drive and their intelligence and their commitment to their community,” he said, “and I wanted to try and work with them.”
Paul Gibson, a U-CLT trustee, described how Crean helped the organization become an official Community Housing Development Organization, or CHDO, through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“(Crean) took us through the process of becoming a CHDO, which is what you need to do to get some federal funding,” Gibson said. “He was making our organization bulletproof in terms of getting that approval, of getting that money.”
During the Oct. 17 ceremony at Seasons 52, Crean was presented with a citation from the county, as well as a special engraved award from U-CLT.
“I want to thank you for this honor, for this recognition, and I want to thank you for everything you do for Uniondale,” Crean told U-CLT members upon accepting his award.
Each year, U-CLT also honors an “unsung hero,” which is someone who spends time improving Uniondale behind the scenes. The Uniondale Fire District and department was this year’s recipient for “being like the wind under our wings,” Shalkowski, said.
“One of the things that we always try to do is respond wherever we’re needed in the community and to help out in whichever way that we can,” said Fitzroy Morgan, a member of the Uniondale Board of Fire Commissioners, as well as a volunteer firefighter and EMT. “The more you can put forth in the community, the more you invest in the community, the better the community will be.”
