VHDA’s REACH Virginia team delivers free consulting services for your revitalization efforts. The Team members and their contact information is as follows:
Mike Hawkins, AICP, PhD, Director of Community Housing, has considerable community development experience at the local government level and holds a PhD in public administration and urban policy, leads the REACH Virginia team.
Contact Info: Office: 804-343-5654 Email: mike.hawkins@vhda.com
Gail Braham, Community Outreach Program Coordinator, provides administrative support and program assistance for the team’s many activities.
Contact Info: Office: 804-343-5512 Email: gail.braham@vhda.com
Debbie Griner , Community Outreach Program Coordinator, provides administrative support and program assistance for the team's many activities.
Contact Info: Office: 804-343-5579 Email: debbie.griner@vhda.com
Costa Canavos, Community Housing Officer, educates local Virginia governments about the measurable benefits and exciting opportunities that result from revitalization efforts. Canavos also serves as the primary contact for VHDA’s Mixed-use and Mixed-income financing program.
Contact Info: Office: 804-343-5735 Email: costa.canavos@vhda.com
Bruce DeSimone, AICP, Community Housing Officer, handles housing issues affecting senior citizens and the frail elderly. In addition to helping determine needs, he assists in forging partnerships with public, private and non-profit organizations that blend resources to address the unmet housing needs of aging Virginians. Serves as a loan underwriter for Multifamily Developments.
Contact Info: Office: 804-343-5656 Email: bruce.desimone@vhda.com
Bill Fuller, PhD, Senior Community Housing Officer, leads efforts in assisting people with disabilities find affordable, accessible and sustainable housing. Fuller not only underwrites loans for projects and programs impacting those with disabilities, but also works with a variety of non-profit organizations seeking to build their financial capacity to sponsor projects with positive impact for Virginians with disabilities.
Contact Info: Office: 804-343-5754 Email: bill.fuller@vhda.com
Chris Hilbert, Senior Community Housing Officer, works with non-profit housing organizations around the Commonwealth to determine their financing needs, and serves as a loan underwriter for a variety of multifamily developments. Hilbert is also the team’s expert on issues related to homelessness.
Contact Info: Office: 804-343-5741 Email: chris.hilbert@vhda.com
Monica Jefferson, Community Housing Officer, addresses housing outreach efforts targeted to Virginia’s African American communities. Her outreach efforts include partnering with historically black colleges and universities, and improving homebuyer financial education through VHDA’s College Tour. Jefferson also is the team expert on outreach to the faith community.
Contact Info: 804-343-5736 Email: monica.jefferson@vhda.com
Monique Johnson, Community Housing Officer, identifies financing options for non-profit organizations and small for-profit developers that want to address a wide range of rental housing needs in the Commonwealth. She also serves as a loan underwriter and the team expert for identifying opportunities to use VHDA financing to support public housing redevelopment in mixed-finance approaches.
Contact Info: 804-343-5992 Email: monique.johnson@vhda.com
Toni Ostrowski, Senior Community Housing Officer, manages stakeholder and partnership relationships that have specific, vested interests in housing needs. She coordinates the activities of many of VHDA’s advisory boards, including the Local Governments Advisory Board. In addition, she is an expert on homeownership development, particularly in the context of neighborhood revitalization.
Contact Info: Office: 804-343-5982 Email: toni.ostrowski@vhda.com
Jose Paiz, Community Housing Officer, reaches out to Virginia’s Hispanic communities by identifying and cultivating relationships with local resources that are currently serving - or are interested in serving - the housing needs of the Commonwealth’s Hispanic population. Paiz also assists with efforts that promote and increase financial literacy and knowledge about the homeownership process to Hispanic communities.
Contact Info: Office: 804-343-5915 Email: jose.paiz@vhda.com
Michael Scheurer, Community Housing Officer, handles outreach targeted to the rapidly growing Northern Virginia that experiences high housing cost. Along with private developers and non-profit housing development corporations, Scheurer also partners with lenders, local governments and redevelopment and housing authorities to facilitate the preservation and development of affordable workplace housing opportunities for both homeownership and rental markets.
Contact Info: Office: 804-343-5916 Email: michael.scheurer@vhda.com
