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[Page S2292]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
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TRIBUTE TO MARY SKEENS
Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I wish to recognize a friend and
colleague, Mary Skeens, who has been a tireless advocate for affordable
housing for West Virginians. Mary is retiring as the executive director
of Community Works where she has spent the last 12 of her 40-year
housing career.
A native of Kentucky, Mary realized at an early age that not every
family in a warm, secure home. Her pressing concern for the living
conditions of her classmates and peers led her into a career in
housing. In 1990, her husband, Jim, had a desire to return to his
family farm in Roane County, WV. This allowed Jim to return to his
Mountaineer roots, and Mary embraced her new adopted home State and
entered the housing profession.
Mary started her housing career as manager at a senior living high-
rise apartment complex in Dunbar. She was later offered a position at
the West Virginia Housing Development Fund as the head of the community
development office overseeing the newly-created HOME Program during
President Clinton's Administration. Mary worked with nonprofit housing
agencies all over West Virginia in an effort to qualify as them as
community Housing Development Organizations, also known as a CHDOs.
Over the next 10 years, Mary worked with numerous housing providers to
develop many worthwhile projects that serve West Virginians to this
day, creating domestic violence shelters, affordable multifamily rental
complexes, and affordable housing subdivisions in underserved areas of
our State. Mary is well known throughout West Virginia for her housing
finance skills and her ability to provide much-needed technical
assistance.
In 2007, Mary became executive director of Community Works in West
Virginia. This agency was newly created and in its early years of
operation. Community Works is a licensed mortgage lender providing home
ownership loans, owner occupied rehabilitation loans, and a commercial
loan program to its nonprofit housing member organizations. Mary
stepped in and grew the agency by expanding its reach. This agency's
work can be seen in most every housing development in the State through
its loan programs and outreach. In addition to providing affordable
financing opportunities, Mary has overseen many initiatives to improve
housing policy and awareness that will affect this industry for years
to come. She has also dedicated much time serving on many housing
related boards of directors, and, as a result of her work, was inducted
into the West Virginia Affordable Housing Hall of Fame in 2012.
Mary has accomplished so much in her years of service to West
Virginia's housing community. I would like to thank Mary for aiding our
State and its residents by providing safe, decent, and affordable
housing to so many citizens who could not have afforded it otherwise.
Thank you for working with me and my staff over the years to serve as
a resource on housing policy. I wish you well in your retirement. It is
truly an honor to call you a friend and fellow West Virginian.
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