Friday, March 17, 2017

Community Housing Improvement Program Honors Outstanding Service


Created more than 30 years ago, Birchwood Properties is a small, family-owned business located in Great Neck, New York. The company assists with property ownership and management in and around New York City. To better serve community members, Birchwood Properties belongs to the Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP).

A private nonprofit organization, CHIP serves those living in Butte, Glenn, Plumas, Shasta, Sutter, Tehama, and Yuba counties. It helps those residents who live in low-income areas as well as seniors who lack financial resources or knowledge to improve their quality of housing. Since it began in 1973, CHIP has constructed more than 2,000 housing units in those seven counties.

On January 24, 2017, CHIP awarded the 2016 outstanding partner award and outstanding service award. It gave the Tri Counties Bank the outstanding partner award for its volunteer sponsorship with CHIP as well as providing $39 million in capital for CHIP’s self-help program during the past 30 years. Joy Murphy, an Orland native, earned the outstanding service award for her volunteerism and capacity as a board member. She teaches a weekly art, science, and math class to children at one of CHIP’s apartments, Rancho De Soto.