Title
Honoring the Career of Anthony Lewis.
Body
WHEREAS, The Council of the City of Philadelphia is pleased and proud to honor Mr. Anthony Lewis for his several years of civic and community service to the citizens and institutions of the City of Philadelphia through his outstanding career as an activist, advocate, and leader in the housing and construction industries; and
WHEREAS, Anthony "Tony" Lewis is a product of Philadelphia's public school system and is a graduate of Thomas A. Edison High School and a graduate of Knoxville College in Knoxville, Tennessee where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Political Science; and
WHEREAS, During his time in Knoxville, Mr. Lewis began his activist career as a Civil Rights organizer, where he was arrested and jailed 14 times in protests to open theaters, restaurants, and other public facilities which, along with other protests, ended the practice of Jim Crow in Knoxville; and
WHEREAS, Tony Lewis is retiring as the Managing Director of the Housing Association of Delaware Valley ("HADV") where he created the Housing Association Reinvestment Corporation, a Community Development Corporation that provides homes for low-income residents through "sweat equity" and the Housing Association Information Program, a HUD Certified Housing Counseling Program that provides pre-purchase, eviction, and foreclosure counseling to over 13,000 families through negotiations and budget planning; and
WHEREAS, And under Mr. Lewis' direction, HADV began its Public Housing Tenant and Tenant Management Training Program and, through this initiative, Abbottsford Homes became the first public housing site in Pennsylvania to be managed by tenants and HADV became the co-owner and co-developer of the Southwark Plaza and the Raymond Rosen scattered site public housing development; and
WHEREAS, He co-founded the Housing Consortium for Disabled Individuals, a...
Click here for full text