{"id":157,"date":"2018-10-17T14:10:03","date_gmt":"2018-10-17T14:10:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brownsvillenews.org\/nyc-profiles-ericka-keller-wala-ceo-of-brisa-builders-making-an-impact-in-affordable-housing\/"},"modified":"2018-10-17T14:10:03","modified_gmt":"2018-10-17T14:10:03","slug":"nyc-profiles-ericka-keller-wala-ceo-of-brisa-builders-making-an-impact-in-affordable-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brownsvillenews.org\/?p=157","title":{"rendered":"NYC Profiles: Ericka Keller-Wala CEO of Brisa Builders Making an Impact in Affordable Housing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Having been a graduate of New York University, Brooklyn College, and the College of St. Rose, not only earned <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/brisabuilders.com\/executive-staff\/\">Ericka K Wala<\/a><\/strong> remarkable credentials, but she was also able to gain a true sense of being involved in various community affairs. After a decade of working for the NYC Department of Education, Ericka Wala decided to apply her skillset to add value to the construction and development business her family built.<\/p>\n<p>Ericka expanded the company\u2019s reputation as a HUD 202 General Contractor by building senior housing for faith-based sponsors and transformed the organization to one that would build on the growth of affordable housing with faith-based establishments and religious partners.<\/p>\n<p>Wala has received numerous awards and certifications during the progression of both of her careers that include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The 2009 Queens Rotary Club \u201cUnsung Hero Award\u201d<\/li>\n<li>The 2010 NYS Senate \u201cConstituent of the Month Citation\u201d<\/li>\n<li>The 2012 National Association of Professional Women (NAPW) \u201cWoman of the Year Award\u201d<\/li>\n<li>The 2015 Mayor Hall -Village of Hempstead \u201cWoman of the Year Award\u201d<\/li>\n<li>The 2016 \u201cGeneral Contractor and Emerging Developer of the Year Award\u201d from the New York State Association of Minority Contractors<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The above-listed awards do not include the many recognitions and honors she has received for non- profit and for profit affordable housing efforts.<\/p>\n<h3>Ericka K. Wala of Brisa Builders Brings Affordable Housing Development to Brownsville<\/h3>\n<p>Between being a resident of several NYC communities, and the skillset and compassion she developed as a teacher, Ericka has become a true staple in community development and renaissance.<\/p>\n<p>One of Wala\u2019s most recent projects involves the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/brownsvillenews.org\/230-affordable-apartments-plus-commercial-units-coming-to-brownsville\/\">erection of a 230-unit affordable housing building<\/a><\/strong> that will also include an addition of commercial units being built in the Brownsville community where Wala grew up. This development will provide housing to low-income seniors, formerly homeless families, and low-income residents.<\/p>\n<p>Situated in the corner of Brownsville, Brooklyn where Christopher Avenue meets Glenmore Avenue, this venture will be led by a team of developers which includes the teams at <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/brisabuilders.com\/\">Brisa Builders<\/a><\/strong><strong>, <\/strong>Lemle &amp; Wolff, and the African American Planning Commission, Inc. (AAPC).<\/p>\n<p>The new development will feature 20,000 sq. ft. of new community and commercial space where the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brooklyn.coop\/\">Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union<\/a><\/strong> will call home. Moreover, locals will be able to enjoy a new sit-down restaurant, along with a salon that will be managed by a cosmetics establishment that is owned by a local resident.<\/p>\n<p>The new location will also dedicate space to the <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbedc.co\/\">Central Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation (CBEDC)<\/a><\/strong>, and other associates who will inflate their programming for young business owners and deliver services for entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations.<\/p>\n<p>New York City salutes Ericka Keller- Wala!<\/p>\n<h3>To submit someone to be considered for the NYC Profiles Series, powered by NYC Newswire, <a href=\"https:\/\/nycnewswire.com\/contact\/\">Submit Here<\/a><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Having been a graduate of New York University, Brooklyn College, and the College of St. Rose, not only earned Ericka K Wala remarkable credentials, but she was also able to gain a true sense of being involved in various community affairs. After a decade of working for the NYC Department of Education, Ericka Wala decided [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-development","category-features"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brownsvillenews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brownsvillenews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brownsvillenews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brownsvillenews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brownsvillenews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brownsvillenews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brownsvillenews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brownsvillenews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brownsvillenews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brownsvillenews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}