December 10, 2002 — Peter Carey, executive director of Self-Help Enterprises located in Visalia, California, has been selected as the 2002 recipient of The Clay Cochran Award for Distinguished Service in Housing for the Rural Poor.

Peter Carey

This award honors individuals who have provided outstanding and enduring service with national impact for the betterment of housing conditions for the rural poor.

The award is named after Clay Cochran, a mentor and pioneer in the rural housing movement. Dr. Cochran's work in low-income rural housing goes back to the 1930s and 1940s. He founded the Rural Housing Alliance and Rural America. Dr. Cochran passed away in 1982.

Previous winners of this award include Clay Cochran, Elizabeth Herring, Gordon Cavanaugh, Art Collings, Eileen Fitzgerald, Robert Rapoza, Arnold Sternberg, and three members of Congress: Eva Clayton, Stan Lundine and Bennie Thompson.

Peter Carey was presented with the award at the National Rural Housing Conference 2002 on December 6, 2002 in Washington, D.C.

The Clay Cochran Award is sponsored by the Housing Assistance Council (HAC), a nonprofit corporation headquartered in Washington, D.C. HAC has been helping local organizations build affordable homes in rural America since 1971.

For more than 12 years, Carey has served as the executive director of Self-Help Enterprises (SHE), a nationally recognized nonprofit housing and community development organization serving the San Joaquin Valley. As the oldest and largest developer of mutual self-help housing in the nation, Self-Help Enterprises has assisted more than 5,000 low income families in the self-help construction of their own homes. In addition, the organization has rehabilitated over 5,000 homes, and developed over 750 units of rental housing throughout a 15,000 square mile service area. SHE also provides technical assistance to small communities that are working to meet their sewer, water and other community development needs.

Carey joined Self-Help Enterprises in 1974 as part of the construction staff. Since that time he has held a variety of positions. A licensed general contractor, he has extensive experience in construction and organizational management. He became SHE's third executive director in 1990.

Active in housing issues, Carey is past chair of the National Rural Self-Help Housing Association and serves on the boards of the National Rural Housing Coalition, the California Coalition for Rural Housing and is active in the Rural Community Developers Network. He served as a member of Bank of America’s Rural 2000 National Policy Committee and California state HOME and CDBG advisory committees.

A past mayor, city council member, and planning commissioner for the City of Visalia, Carey is active in community leadership and continues to be involved with a number of local organizations. He is a former VISTA and Peace Corps volunteer.

During Carey’s tenure as executive director, Self-Help Enterprises began a very successful multifamily housing program and reached significant milestones in new homes and housing rehabilitation production. In addition, Carey has been an effective advocate for rural development and affordable housing for low-income people and especially farm workers at the state and federal levels.