Frank J. Williams

REALTOR® Frank J. Williams will receive the Gale Cincotta Community Visionary Award from the Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) of Chicago, Inc., on Thursday, March 16 at the Sheraton Grand Chicago.

The NHS gives the Cincotta Community Visionary Award to leaders who help make their communities better places to work and live.

Williams (F.J. Williams Realty in Evergreen Park) has earned a reputation for encouraging fair housing legislation in Illinois during the last 20 years, reports the NHS. As early as the 1970s, he fought for African Americans to live in white dominated neighborhoods on the south side of Chicago. During this time, his own home in the Beverly neighborhood was bombed.

As president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS (CAR) from 1989 to 1990, he fought for fair housing and diversity. In 1991, he received the Illinois REALTORS® the first Distinguished Member Award for Community Service, and in 1992 he was CAR’s REALTOR® of the Year. He helped create a $25,000 scholarship for minority students to pursue real estate careers. Former Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley appointed Williams to serve on the Affordable Housing Task Force and the Real Estate Services Advisory Council.

From 1979 to 1985, he was president of the Southside Chicago branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He helped create a housing discrimination monitoring program, and he campaigned for minority hiring in the real estate industry.

Williams will receive the award at the NHS 42nd Annual Awards Dinner, Sheraton Grand Chicago, 301 E. Water St., in Chicago. Tickets are available by contacting Lakesha Nelson by phone at 773-329-4138 or email or online.