Whiteman AFB wins housing award

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Joel Pfiester
  • 509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. --  The Balfour Beatty Communities and Whiteman Housing Management Office received the 2013 Outstanding Housing Installation Team Award at Whiteman Air Force Base Jan. 29, 2014.

Recent improvements in housing quality along with the addition of new community buildings, amenities and resident programs led to Balfour Beatty Communities' and the Whiteman HMO being presented the award by the Professional Housing Management Association.

"This is a great team we've put together here," said Joe Joyner, 509th Civil Engineer Squardron installation management chief. "BBC has bought a phenomenal group of individuals here to work, not only in the area of community management, but also with their renovations and new construction crews. The amenities that they've completed here over the last year and a half are just tremendous. Probably some of the best in the Air Force right now."

The BBC and Whiteman HMO team won the award competing against some stiff competition.

"Each year, installations across the DOD have an opportunity to nominate their housing offices, whether privatized or traditional housing, for the installation level award and we put together a package a few weeks back," said Joyner. "It's really an award that validates the outstanding work of the housing team that here at Whiteman."

Last December BBC opened a new community center for the families living on Whiteman.

"We opened the new community center, which has a full rec-center, a gym, a beautiful indoor pool and also the facility office area," said Ms. Christina Sonnier, the BBC community manager here.

"We started tracking attendance the first week in January and we just ended the month with over 2,300 attendees at the rec center for the month," said Sonnier.

Since family housing was privatized atWhiteman in March 2012, there have been many new improvements to the homes themselves including new fencing, patio covers and landscaping, according to Melissa Lewman, the Whiteman housing manager.

"We've upgraded the kitchens and the exterior appearance of 140 of our Ridgeview neighborhood homes, as well as adding brand new energy efficient appliances, new flooring and those kinds of things," said Joyner.

BBC is also getting the community involved in events with the Lifeworks program, said Sonnier. Some of the different events include Zumba classes, hula exercise classes and water aerobics.

The BBC here also plans on continuing to make additions to the base housing community.

"We are actually planning to open a neighborhood center this summer and it's going to be around 2,500 square feet," said Sonnier. "It's going to be a multi-use building where residents can reserve it for birthday parties or meetings in the conference room."

The collaboration and close partnership between the base and BBC is the key reason why the housing team brought home the award.

"I just personally want to say how proud I am of this entire team," said Joyner. "They've worked extremely hard to build a strong partnership, and that's not easily done. Without that, nothing works. It doesn't matter how good your homes are, or how good the amenities are, it's the daily partnering that goes on to make sure our residents are taken care of."