FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Rhonda Rosenberg, Director of Communications, 206-574-1185
June 16, 2009
After nearly 25 years of service on the Sedro-Woolley Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, Chair Stanley Sygitowicz will retire June 18 from the board.
A retirement party for Sygitowicz will commence at noon on June 18 at the Hillsview Apartments, 830 Township St., Sedro-Woolley, to honor his longstanding commitment to providing high-quality housing to Sedro-Woolley’s low-income residents.
"Stan is living proof of the difference one person can make. He has led the effort to provide quality affordable housing, create strong communities and enable people with limited resources to live with dignity,” said Stephen Norman, Executive Director of the King County Housing Authority, which operates the Sedro-Woolley Housing Authority. “He will be missed.”
Throughout his tenure on the board, Sygitowicz had a particular passion for ensuring that SWHA housing was updated and improved to the best possible standards. As he steps down, Sygitowicz said he is proud of the fact that SWHA’s properties are in such great condition.
“The Sedro-Woolley Housing Authority, with cooperation from the King County Housing Authority, has done a wonderful job updating our properties, which are in better shape now than when they were first built,” he said. “The properties have been modernized in so many ways that have made it possible for our residents to have better lives.”
At Hillsview, SWHA’s 60-unit mid-rise for seniors and individuals with disabilities, Sygitowicz was regularly known to go above and beyond the duties of his board membership. He always made sure he knew each resident personally, and for many years, he organized an annual holiday party for the building.
“He’s really exemplified a sense of community, particularly at Hillsview, where he’s instilled a sense of pride in the residents, which has been good for the property,” said Laurie Fellers, who was appointed to the SWHA board in April and is Sygitowicz’s goddaughter. “It will be difficult to follow in his footsteps.”
Sygitowicz’s service on the SWHA board is just one of many ways he’s given back to the community since retiring from the logging and construction industry in 1980.
He’s a board member of the Sedro-Woolley Public Library and the Helping Hands Food Bank. He’s community liaison for Cascades Job Corps. He’s also a past board member for the Retired Senior Volunteer Program and continues to be involved with the organization. The United Way of Skagit County has twice awarded Sygitowicz their “Man of the Year” award, and in 1990, he was awarded the governor’s “Volunteer of the Year” award. “His devotion to the community is phenomenal,” Board member K.B. Johnson said. “We’re really going to miss him.”
Sygitowicz said he also will miss serving on the SWHA board. “The Sedro-Woolley Housing Authority is one of the best organizations I have ever volunteered for,” he said.
The Sedro-Woolley Housing Authority provides high quality, affordable housing to economically disadvantaged families, seniors and persons with disabilities. SWHA owns and manages 80 units of public housing.