Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) is pleased to announce that John F. Mealey, Coachella Valley Housing Coalition (CVHC) Executive Director, is the recipient of the 2015 Bill French Award. RCAC is recognizing Mealey’s more than 30 years of service in California’s Coachella Valley to bring affordable housing to thousands of low- and very low-income families. From a $10,000 seed money grant from the Aetna Foundation, Mealey directed CVHC’s growth to its current value of about $550 million.
“The work that the Coachella Valley Housing Coalition has accomplished in one small corner of Riverside County is unequalled by any organization,” said Stanley Keasling, RCAC’s CEO. “Their success in delivering housing opportunities for the most needy residents of the Valley rivals the work that statewide and national organizations have achieved. John has been the driving force, technical expert and mentor in accomplishing this vision. His work for these past 35 years sets a bar that will never again be reached, and we are proud to celebrate these accomplishments.”
Mealey has received many prestigious awards, including a Hope Award from the National Association of REALTORS®, an Energy Star Award for Excellence in Affordable Housing from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and a Fannie Mae Maxwell Award of Excellence.
A founding member of Rural LISC and a Bank of America Advisory Board member, Mr. Mealey is also a board member for the California Coalition for Rural Housing, the National Rural Housing Coalition and National Equity Fund.
Before joining CVHC in 1982, he worked with the County of Riverside Department of Housing and Community Development (now known as the Economic Development Agency), and before moving to the desert, as a real estate agent and the director of real estate operations at a large housing nonprofit organization in Philadelphia.
In 2006, Mr. Mealey completed the Advanced Practitioners Program at Harvard University. He also studied at Villanova University’s School of Commerce and Finance, and holds a bachelor’s degree from Temple University.
