Bush Administration Awards $17.6 Million In Fair Housing Grants
To Continue Fight Against Housing Bias
The grants were awarded by HUD's Fair Housing Initiatives Program
(FHIP) to groups that will use the funds to investigate allegations
of housing discrimination, educate the public and housing industry
about housing discrimination laws, and work to promote fair housing.
Three types of grants were awarded to groups in 96 cities:
- Private Enforcement Initiative grants - About
$10.2 million was awarded in 12-18 month grants of up to approximately
$207,000 to assist private, tax-exempt fair housing enforcement
organizations in the investigation and enforcement of alleged
violations of the Fair Housing Act and substantially equivalent
State and local fair housing laws.
- Education and Outreach Initiative grants - About
$5.3 million was allocated for one-year grants of up to $100,000
to inform and educate the public about the rights and obligations
under federal, state and local fair housing laws. Within that
total amount, about $800,000 went to ten groups that focus on
the needs of persons with disabilities.
- Fair Housing Organizations Initiative grants
- About $2.1 million was awarded for three-year grants of up
to $350,000 per year for projects that serve rural and immigrant
populations in underserved areas or where there currently is
no existing fair housing organization.
Alabama
Birmingham
Fair Housing Center of Northern Alabama - $206,489.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
Fair Housing Center of Northern Alabama (FHCNA) will implement a
systemic approach to combating discriminatory fair housing patterns
and practices in approximately 23 of Alabama's 67 counties. Over
the next 18 months, FHCNA will provide investigative services and
education/outreach, concentrating its efforts in five of the 23
counties (Madison, Limestone, Morgan, Lauderdale, and Colbert) and
on the disabled and immigrant populations. The project will conduct
rental and sales tests and it will assist approximately 300 residents
with fair housing complaints.
Mobile
Fair Housing Agency of Alabama - $78,324.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The Fair Housing Agency of Alabama will provide an aggressive education
and outreach program to continue the establishment and maintenance
of fair housing laws in southern Alabama, focusing on Mobile County.
Some education and outreach activities will consist of the following:
assessing fair housing complaints based on discrimination and providing
referrals to HUD; informing the public of their rights to housing
of their choice and remedies available under fair housing laws,
concentrating on racial minorities and new immigrant groups (Hispanics,
Asians, and Cambodians); and educating the housing provider and
mortgage lending industries concerning their fair housing responsibilities.
Mobile
Fair Housing Center, Inc. - $194,851.92
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
Mobile Fair Housing Center, Inc. (MFHC) will leverage this 1-year
grant to serve the Mobile, Alabama, area. MFHC will partner with
community groups to implement a program to counter predatory lending,
which will include providing fair housing training and conducting
a fair housing summit. The project is designed to raise awareness
of housing discrimination and its impact on persons belonging to
any of the federally, State, or locally protected classes. The project
garners the support of local agencies and housing professionals
who will collaborate to promote awareness of enforcement laws and
consumer and housing provider rights and responsibilities.
Montgomery
Central Alabama Fair Housing Center - $205,739.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The Central Alabama Fair Housing Center (CAFHC) will continue housing
enforcement activities under this 18-month initiative. Underserved
communities in Montgomery and its neighboring communities will be
the beneficiaries of the services, which will reach African Americans
and others of protected classes. Targeted outreach will be directed
to Hispanic, other recent immigrants, and disabled residents. Key
geographic areas encompass rural, impoverished west Alabama Black
Belt (Selma) and the southeast Alabama Wiregrass Region. By expanding
its strong links with civil rights agencies, local community organizations,
and HUD, CAFHC anticipates completing testing in sales, rental and
predatory lending. Accessibility and accommodations testing, plus
other non-testing investigations are planned.
Arizona
Phoenix
Arizona Fair Housing Center - $206,489.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
Arizona Fair Housing Center (AFHC) will conduct an 18-month project
to provide fair housing enforcement activities in central and northern
Arizona. Educational, outreach, and direct services will benefit
residents of all protected classes, with an emphasis on minorities,
Spanish-speaking immigrants, the disabled, and the elderly. Cooperating
attorneys and others will partner to accomplish such activities
as intake, investigation, and testing, recruitment and training
of testers; and a legal seminar for attorneys. Local attorneys and
other investigators are some of AFHC's partners.
Acorn
Housing Corporation of Arizona - $95,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative-Hispanic Fair Housing (EOI-HSP)
ACORN Housing Corporation of Arizona (AHC of AZ), a nonprofit with
a strong community base in minority and heavily Hispanic Phoenix
neighborhoods, is dedicated to increasing low-income, minority homeownership
in these neighborhoods. This Hispanic Fair Housing Awareness project
is designed to provide pertinent information about Fair Housing
and lending to borrowers at crucial points in the purchasing process,
which is critical to recognizing Fair Housing violations and avoiding
predatory lending. This information will be printed and disseminated
in easy to understand language (English and Spanish). AHC will utilize
various strategies to identify possible victims of predatory lending
and will analyze their individual cases to find instances of violations
of the Fair Housing Act.
Tucson
Southwest Fair Housing Council - $205,964.04
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
Southwest Fair Housing Enforcement Outreach Project (SWFHC) will
serve the entire State of Arizona. Under the auspices of the Southwest
Fair Housing Council, during an 18-month period, SWFHC will provide
a full range of fair housing services to all protected classes,
with a focus on the most underserved populations residing in the
southern counties along or near the Mexican border, an area that
contains all of Arizona's Colonias communities. In collaboration
with local public and private agencies, as well as faith-based and
grassroots organizations such as the local media and the Arizona
State Department of Housing, SWFHC has established nine outreach
offices to: (1) identify and assist persons with housing complaints,
(2) conduct local investigations including testing, and (3) monitor
the FHA compliance among housing providers. Activities include fair
housing trainings, presentations, and promotions and dissemination
of fair housing information.
Arkansas
Fort
Smith
Crawford-Sebastian Community Development Council - $40,055.86
Education and Outreach Initiative - Minority Homeownership (EOI-HO)
Crawford-Sebastian Community Development Council (C-SCDC) has been
incorporated since 1965 and is one of the larger Community Action
Agencies in the state of Arkansas. This project will provide fair
housing marketing and outreach to all protected classes with a focus
on minorities. Education and outreach will be undertaken by following
up with individual participants by informing them of their fair
housing rights in the home-buying process and for loan preparation
and will help with individualized credit reviews and one-on-one
homebuyer education and counseling. Education and outreach about
fair housing will also be used to increase minority homeownership
by providing the necessary individualized counseling for those most
underserved
Little
Rock
Arkansas Community Housing Corporation - $100,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative-Minority Home Ownership (EOI-HO)
Arkansas Community Housing Corporation (ACHC) will increase compliance
with the Fair Housing Act and increase minority homeownership through
public outreach and education to grassroots organizations and churches,
utilize HMDA data analysis to educate lenders about the need for
additional programs to increase minority homeownership, offer first-time
homebuyer services to educate and prepare residents for home purchase,
and refer all fair housing complaints to HUD, the Department of
Justice, State and local agencies, and/or private attorneys. This
project will be located in HUD's Southwest region, specifically
in low-income minority neighborhoods in Pulaski, Faulkner, Lonoke,
Saline, Lincoln and Jefferson Counties and will serve all protected
classes.
California
Bakersfield
Consumer Credit Counseling of Kern County - $56,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative-Hispanic Fair Housing (EOI-HSP)
Consumer Credit Counseling (CCCS) serves Kern and Tulare Counties.
Over 24% of persons in these counties live below the poverty level;
Kern County is 38.4% Hispanic or Latino and Tulare County is 50.8%
Hispanic or Latino. CCCS's fair housing education and outreach programs
are designed to end discriminatory attitudes and to interface well
with state and local fair housing enforcement programs. This program
will continue to help people gain access to homeownership and give
them the knowledge to do it wisely, thus reducing the risk of non-access
to fair housing or of losing their homes.
Fresno
Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Central Valley - $80,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Central Valley (CCCS) is a
nonprofit, community-based organization dedicated to providing fair
housing education to residents of Fresno County. CCCS will provide
education to the community on fair housing and fair housing as it
relates to tenancy and home ownership through personal counseling
and community education programs. CCCS has provided clients with
one stop for all of their housing needs.
Mental
Health Advocacy Services, Inc. - $95,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - Disability (EOI-D)
The Mental Health Advocacy Services, Inc. (MHAS) will continue its
Education and Outreach Project throughout southern and central California.
Currently serving Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Santa Barbara
and Ventura Counties, this 12-month project will expand to serve
all protected classes residing in Fresno and San Diego Counties.
With particular emphasis on the disabled, MHAS will conduct two
in-depth training sessions and provide fair housing technical assistance
to nonprofit agencies, housing developers and other organizations.
Local task forces and inter-agency collaborative efforts will assist
MHAS in producing local, regional, and statewide conferences and
issuing its Multilanguage pamphlet, "Fair Housing in Your Neighborhood".
Oakland
Bay Area Legal Aid - $206,489.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
Bay Area Legal Aid (BALA) will operate a yearlong program, providing
free civil legal services to low-income residents in Alameda, Contra
Costa, Mann, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties.
Serving approximately 20,000 low-income clients per year, this project
will actively enforce the Fair Housing Act. BALA will train local
government and community groups' staffs, in addition to conducting
presentations to tenants and landlords. With its history of litigating
cases with the Department of Justice and the California Department
of Fair Employment and Housing, BALA will address the needs of federally
protected classes, with a focus on non-English-speaking immigrants,
those residing in rural regions, and those most affected by post-September
11 discrimination. Recognizing and referring complaints, investigations,
testing, and referrals to HUD are more examples of BALA's anticipated
activities.
Sentinel
Fair Housing - $205,829.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The Sentinel Fair Housing project, during the next 12-months, will
continue its fair housing enforcement services in Alameda and Contra
Costa counties and southern Solano County, California. Specific
cities include Oakland, Hayward, Richmond, and Vallejo. Services
will be available to all protected classes, with particular emphasis
placed on Latinos and the language-isolated communities of Asians
and Pacific Islanders. The project will increase complaint intake,
and audits of historically segregated complexes and communities.
Enforcement referrals and community and industry education will
also occur with numerous community partners and stakeholders participating,
including La Raza Centro Legal. To augment service delivery, multilingual
information will be disseminated.
Ontario
Inland Fair Housing and Mediation Board - $178,203.54
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
Inland Fair Housing and Mediation Board (IFHMB) will provide a comprehensive,
fair housing program that primarily targets low- and moderate-income
and Spanish-speaking people. The 18-month project will operate in
San Bernardino County and will include the cities of Apple Valley,
Chino, Hesperia, and San Bernardino and all unincorporated areas
within the county. The project focuses on complaint- and audit-driven
tests, the introduction of lending testing, and the creation of
a sufficiently diverse testing pool. Also, IFHMB and partners such
as the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing and
private attorneys will recruit Southland residents using bilingual
materials and mediation, semi-annual media campaigns, and a website.
Palo
Alto
Project Sentinel - $206,489.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
Project Sentinel, a 32-year-old fair housing agency, provides counseling
services and investigates complaints of housing discrimination.
With the Fair Housing Law Project and 19 other community organizations,
this 18-month project will serve 3.6 million residents in four diverse
Bay Area counties: San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Stanislaus.
The target populations are the disabled, Arab and Muslim Americans,
Latinos, and people of Middle Eastern descent. The project's four
key goals are to: (1) conduct 167 investigations, with subsequent
referrals to HUD, as appropriate; (2) apply systemic testing to
reduce ethnicity and disability discrimination in both sales and
rental housing; (3) improve awareness among housing professionals
and social service providers, and (4) build on identifying. preventing,
and providing redress against unfair lending practices.
San
Diego
The Fair Housing Council of San Diego - $100,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative-Hispanic Fair Housing (EOI-HSP)
The Fair Housing Council of San Diego (FHCSD) will implement a Hispanic
Fair Housing Awareness Project. This project will implement a varied
menu of bilingual fair housing activities (for example, written
material dissemination, PSA video presentations; "block to
block" club meetings) to raise the awareness of targeted Hispanic
individuals and families (and others) concerning their fair housing
rights, responsibilities and remedies. The Hispanic community (and
others from the academic, civic, faith-based and community agency
perspectives) will be involved in producing a culture/language appropriate,
and updated outreach and education model. This activity will be
designed to sustain the services after the life of the funded project
and also serve as a model for replication in other jurisdictions.
San
Francisco
California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. - $206,489.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) provides legal representation
to farm workers, minorities, and residents living in low-income
communities in rural California. Over the 1-year grant period, 22
statewide field offices will expand testing, complaint reporting,
referrals, and other housing enforcement services. With special
attention to three agricultural regions in the state (Border, Central
Valley, Salinas Valley-Central Coast), CRLA, in cooperation with
other nonprofit service providers, State and local governments,
and fair housing agencies and organizations, will expand its testing,
referrals, litigation, and community education in the priority areas
of housing, civil rights, employment, health, environmental justice,
and education.
La
Raza Centro Legal, Inc. - $100,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative-Hispanic Fair Housing (EOI-HSP)
La Raza Centro Legal, a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco,
California, will provide fair housing education and outreach to
the Hispanic community of the Bay Area, in collaboration with Centro
Legal de la Raza of Oakland (Centro Legal Oakland), a grassroots
organization, to increase awareness of and responsiveness to fair
housing issues among the Hispanic population. The Fair Housing Outreach
Project will target four Bay Area counties, including Alameda, Contra
Costa, San Francisco, and San Mateo Counties, and will offer services
to the entire region. The proposed activities include outreach and
education, fair housing counseling and referrals, media outreach,
and technical assistance and training.
San
Rafael
Fair Housing of Marin - $206,489.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
Fair Housing of Marin (FHOM), a 21-year old organization, will serve
the suburban and rural counties of Marin, Sonoma, and Napa. This
18-month project strengthens existing programs, while creating new
areas for identifying and redressing housing discrimination experienced
by all federally protected classes. Under this grant, immigrants,
the elderly and disabled, and people of color will receive special
attention. FHOM will collaborate with a Napa County Fair Housing
Consultant; Stanford Professor of Linguistics; and a disability
rights attorney; Westamerican Bank; and numerous community organizations
to deliver a cross-section of related services, including intake
of complaints, placement of bilingual ads, professional mediations,
seminars, and recruitment and training of new testers.
Santa
Ana
Fair Housing Council of Orange County, Inc. - $159,239.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
Fair Housing Council of Orange County (HCOC), over an 18-month period,
will augment current services by adding two new staff positions.
The new persons will prepare for, implement, coordinate, and analyze
the results of a paired-testing effort that will focus on identifying
violations that adversely impact disabled individuals. Face-to-face
and telephonic/electronic testing will cover real estate agents
and home mortgage lenders. In conjunction with the Dayle McIntosh
Center, the primary Independent Living Center serving Orange County,
and other disability advocacy groups and governmental organizations,
most services will be rendered in the county with some also delivered
in other areas in Southern California. Community outreach and training
supplement HCOC's education and training plans.
Woodland
Legal Services of Northern California, Inc. - $80,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
Legal Services of Northern California (LSNC) will provide educational
activities and advisory assistance to the underserved minority and
poor populations of Southeast Asian immigrants and persons with
disabilities in its 23-county service area. The educational activities
and advisory assistance will enhance HUD's enforcement goals because
it will promote more legitimate claims of fair housing discrimination
and prevent acts of housing discrimination by housing providers.
It also creates partnerships and involvement in fair housing outreach
with grassroots faith-based and community-based organizations. The
project will help HUD achieve its strategic goals and policy priorities
to increase equal housing and rental opportunities, especially for
minority, rural, and disabled populations.
Colorado
Denver
Colorado Coalition for the Homeless - $80,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless has developed a comprehensive
Fair Housing Initiatives Education and Outreach program strategically
designed to promote activities that enhance compliance with the
Fair Housing Act and equivalent State and local Fair Housing laws
throughout the State of Colorado. The Colorado Coalition for the
Homeless (CCH) will focus this Education and Outreach program to
emphasize the Fair Housing needs of all of the protected classes
under the Fair Housing Act. Education and Outreach will be coupled
with complaint coordination in partnership with the local FHAP agency,
the State of Colorado Civil Rights Division.
Connecticut
Hartford
Connecticut Fair Housing Center, Inc. - $203,252.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The Connecticut Fair Housing Center will serve all the people of
Connecticut, with particular focus on increasing the number of referrals
of fair housing complaints to HUD or the FHAP; increasing homeownership
opportunities for minorities and others who have traditionally been
shut out off the home buying market, promoting access to affordable
housing for the disabled, low-income families, and minorities, ensuring
equal access to housing for all of the people in Connecticut, and
working with faith-based and grass-roots organizations to achieve
the goals of this grants.
Delaware
Dover
Delaware Developmental Disabilities Council - $40,065.20
Education and Outreach Initiative - Disability (EOI-D)
The
Delaware Developmental Disabilities Council will operate its Accessible
Housing Awareness (AHA) Project, which will collaborate with consumers,
homebuilders, and advocates for the people with disabilities and
the elderly in Delaware. The
12-month effort will focus on removing the impediments to fair housing
and accessible home construction or modifications. Using educational
outreach to increase awareness and understanding of universal design
concepts in single-family home construction, participants will be
videotaped describing the benefits of fair and accessible housing.
The building blocks for this project will be the publication of
an overview of universal design features and the concept of visitability,
along with evaluation and feedback forms and free packets distributed
to approximately 550 agencies and 2,050 libraries.
New
Castle
Delaware Community Reinvestment - $51,200.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
DCRAC's Education and Outreach program is built around the financial
needs of the community in rural Sussex and Kent counties. DCRAC
has launched programs to educate protected classes about their rights,
responsibilities, and obligations under the Fair Housing Act. For
example, Money Matters! is a program about money management skills.
DCRAC also launched the DCRAC Information Special to reach those
constituents who ignored the regular print media or who were unable
to read and write. The DCRAC staff is bilingual to address the needs
of the Spanish-speaking community. DCRAC's Small Business Open House
provides a platform for service providers to reach the target community.
In addition, the Delaware CRA News serves as a reporting mechanism
and as a tool to educate and enlighten the industry, its regulators,
and nonprofit communities about the desirability of fair and equal
access to credit.
Wilmington
Housing Opportunities of Northern Delaware - $112,739.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
As the sole fair housing agency in Delaware, Housing Opportunities
of Northern Delaware, Inc. (HOND) completes statewide, random sales
and lending audits. HOND will collaborate with partners and conduct
audits at the request of rental agencies. This 18-month initiative
will continue HOND's fair housing law education and testing program.
By serving all protected classes and covering mobile parks, beach
areas, farmland, and urban areas, HOND will give its constituents
access to legal representation and pro bono attorneys. The completion
of eight seminars is anticipated in New Castle, Kent, and Sussex
counties.
District of Columbia
ACORN
Fair Housing - $79,988.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
ACORN Fair Housing (AFH) will increase compliance with the Fair
Housing Act through public outreach and education, intensive HMDA
and other data analysis and mapping, investigation of reverse redlining
and other illegalities among predatory lenders, and referral of
complaints to HUD, the Department of Justice, State and local agencies,
and/or private attorneys. This project will be located in HUD's
Northeast region, specifically in low-income minority neighborhoods
in Bridgeport, Hartford, and Norwalk, Connecticut. AFH will identify
the worst offending lenders in these locations and then go "on
the ground" to educate the public about subtle, widespread
lending discrimination, and referring fair housing complaints.
D.C.
Department of Housing and Community Development - $100,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative-Hispanic Fair Housing (EOI-HSP)
The D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD)
is mandated to ensure fair housing and equal opportunity in services
for the citizens of Washington, D.C., including those individuals
and families in federally designated Empowerment Zones, Enterprise
Communities, and Strategic Planning Communities. DHCD will help
minorities defend themselves against discrimination by coupling
fair housing with home buying education. A series of 25 workshops
will be held throughout the District of Columbia, in the wards where
the most underserved minority and immigrant populations live. At
least six of the workshops will be held in Spanish, Vietnamese,
Chinese, or Amharic; the remaining 14 workshops will be held in
English in the African American communities.
Leadership
Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund - $79,998.40
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The Leadership Conference on Civil Right Education Fund (LCCREF)
will focus on providing fair housing assistance to persons of all
protected classes. LCCREF and the Ad Council it's activities will
release and distribute fair housing media products and promote national
fair housing issues. Specific activities proposed include: Re-distribution
of two television public services, and radio announcements in English
and Spanish, Distribution of print advertisements covering rental
discrimination targeting all protected categories under the Fair
Housing Act also, in English and Spanish. LCCREF will hold training
workshops for non -profit faith-based organizations to teach them
how to work with public service directors at local television and
radio station to promote fair housing.
National Community Reinvestment Coalition - $206,156.04
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
National Community Reinvestment Coalitions mission is to increase
fair and equal access to credit, capital, and banking services and
products because discrimination is illegal, unjust, and detrimental
to the economic growth and well being of our society. NCRC will
partner with the advocacy and civil rights community to challenge
the dual lending marketplace and will investigate and challenge
the widespread practices of predatory real estate and lending practices
that has emerged in the homeownership and sub-prime mortgage market.
Florida
Cocoa
Fair Housing Continuum, Inc. - $206,489.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The Fair Housing Continuum, Inc. (FHC) will leverage in-kind services
and funding that expand services to the underserved community of
homeless persons, while continuing to focus on the issues of immigrant
populations (non-English speaking) persons with disabilities, and
all other protected classes. During the 18-month period, FHC will
recruit and train testers, complete systemic and/or complaint based
tests, conduct an annual Fair Housing Month activity, and implement
a media campaign, as it simultaneously attends to meritorious referrals
to HUD. Collaborators include Brevard County HOME Consortium, the
City of Melbourne, and El Playero, the local Spanish language newspaper.
The project's goal is to increase consumers' knowledge of their
rights and responsibilities under the Fair Housing Act.
Fair
Housing Continuum, Inc. - $1,050,000.00
Fair Housing Organizations Initiative (FHOI)
Fair Housing Continuum, Inc. is working to establish a fair housing
project to serve Orange, Lake, and Osceola counties in Central Florida.
The Continuum will develop Alianza for Fair Housing, a project of
Central Florida Legal Services, Inc., to serve underserved areas
and individuals, including immigrants with limited English proficiency,
and individuals living in rural areas. The Continuum will provide
Alianza with the advantages of its experience as a Fair Housing
enforcement organization during the first three years of the project.
The ultimate goal of Alianza is to increase awareness and compliance
with the Federal Fair Housing Act, Florida Fair Housing Act, and
local Fair Housing ordinances
Jacksonville
Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Inc. - $206,417.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The Fair Housing Advocacy Center (FHAC) of Jacksonville Area Legal
Aid, Inc., has been the sole provider of private enforcement of
fair housing laws on behalf of victims in the Jacksonville area
and the adjacent six-county region since 1996. Under this 12-month
project, FHAC, as the only entity in Jacksonville and the north
Florida area, will provide quality fair housing testing in the areas
of rental, sales, and lending. The FHAC enforcement activities result
in the referral of hundreds of meritorious fair housing complaints,
the award of hundreds of thousands of dollars in monetary settlements,
the granting of reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities,
and the preservation of homes for families.
Tampa
Bay Area Legal Services, Inc. - $128,846.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The Bay Area Legal Services will become the first and only HUD-partnered
provider of Private Enforcement on behalf of housing discrimination
victims, in the Tampa/Hillsborough County area of Florida. The Private
Enforcement activities proposed under this grant are expected to
ultimately result in the referral of hundreds of fair housing complaints,
the award of thousands of dollars in monetary settlements to housing
discrimination victims, the granting of reasonable accommodations
for persons with disabilities, and the preservation of homes for
families. Bay Area Legal Services also expects to provide education
about fair housing rights and obligations to thousands of persons,
and to foster and environment of greater awareness of and compliance
with fair housing rights among local government agencies, the housing
industry, apartment managers, and lending institutions.
Georgia
Savannah
City of Savannah - $79,999.20
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The City of Savannah (the City) will implement the Coastal Housing
Outreach Project (CHOP). Through an established public-private collaboration
with the Savannah-Chatham County Fair Housing Council, CHOP will
strengthen and expand an existing educational program to reduce
and/or eliminate housing discrimination within the City, Chatham
County, and surrounding counties. CHOP will utilize a well-developed
network of relationships with faith-based organizations, non-English
speaking persons, media contacts, disability advocacy organizations,
local and national professional organizations, housing and related
providers, and government entities to disseminate fair housing information
over the 18-month period of this grant. The goal of this comprehensive
project is to educate housing consumers and housing providers about
their rights and obligations under the Fair Housing Act, respectively.
Idaho
Boise
Idaho Legal Aid Services, Inc. - $80,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
Idaho Legal Aid Services will educate consumers and individuals
in the housing industry about the requirements and procedures under
the Fair Housing Act. Idaho Legal Aid Services will present 100
local educational symposia to more than 3,000 underserved consumers
throughout the State and 20 housing symposia for housing providers.
All education and outreach efforts will be done in coordination
with the primary enforcement agency, the Intermountain Fair Housing
Council. The underserved consumers targeted are protected classes
in rural areas, new immigrants, and persons with disabilities. A
statewide outreach and education campaign will reach the targeted
consumer populations through Idaho Legal Aid Services and key governmental
and grassroots organizations that provide services to the targeted
populations.
Intermountain
Fair Housing Council - $206,471.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
Intermountain Fair Housing Council's (IFHC) mission is to ensure
that all Idahoans have a full choice in housing opportunities. This
18-month project, relying on the twin strategies of education about
and enforcement of State and Federal fair housing laws, will reach
out to those unserved and underserved rural areas, many of which
have communities with less than 20,000 inhabitants. Mostly Spanish-speaking
Latinos, Native Americans, and recent or new immigrants from Eastern
Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, plus those
with physical and mental disabilities, will benefit from the statewide
consumer outreach and education that is planned. In partnership
with local governments, businesses, and social service agencies,
the statewide toll-free hotline and referrals of all meritorious
complaints to HUD will continue.
Illinois
Chicago
Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago - $206,489.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago's 18-month Fair Housing Enforcement
Project combines enforcement and networking, as well as the processing
of allegations of discrimination concerning refusal to rent, noncompliance
with access design requirements, and denial of requests for reasonable
accommodations and modifications. Enforcement activities will cover
the Chicago metropolitan area, Illinois' most populous and racially
diverse region. Screening, investigations (including testing), and
filing of administrative complaints to HUD and other agencies, when
appropriate, will entail some of the services offered under this
project. While strengthening ties with faith-based community groups,
the project will serve all protected classes.
Chicago
Lawyers' Committee - $206,222.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights (CLCCR) has extensive
experience in fair housing issues, having litigated hundreds of
complaints since 1969, including class action and law reform cases.
Fair housing groups throughout the Chicago metropolitan area access
the CLCCR's free, expert legal services through, for example, outreach
workshops to community-based organizations and municipalities; tester
recruitment from five institutions serving minorities; and sales,
lending and rental testing. One of several partners, the Interfaith
Housing Center of the Northern Suburbs, a faith-based organization,
will accept complaints that CLCCR will investigate and appropriately
represent, either during the HUD administrative process or in separate
civil lawsuits. Latinos and African Americans comprise the primary
groups that CLCCR and additional partners such as the HOPE Fair
Housing Center and the Woodstock Institute will assist under this
one-year project.
Latinos
United - $79,220.98
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
Latinos United is a nonprofit, Chicago metro area housing advocacy
and fair housing organization with this mission: to provide and
advocate for equitable participation and access in housing and other
priority areas for Latinos in the Chicago metropolitan region by
effecting change in public and private polices and practices. Latinos
United will provide bilingual fair housing workshops and educational
forums targeted to the Chicago Hispanic community.
Leadership
Council for Metropolitan Open Communities - $206,489.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
For 18 months, the Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities
(LCMOC) will increase fair housing compliance and enforcement in
the Chicago area. As the oldest and most comprehensive fair housing
organization in the nation, LCMOC's efforts will continue, consisting
of intake, investigation, legal representation, and systemic testing
and investigations to pursue legal remedies. All protected classes,
particularly the disabled and new immigrant groups will benefit
from the Immigrants Fair Housing Roundtable, a forum for coordinating
efforts related to the rights and responsibilities of immigrants
and their landlords. Staff, volunteer, and board member training
are an integral component of this initiative.
Chicago
Homeowners - $79,712.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The Chicago Homeowners will partner with Chicago Housing Authority(CHA),
CHAC, Inc. and the John Marshall Law Center's Fair Housing Clinic
to provide fair housing education and legal counseling that will
lead to increased referrals to HUD and the city of Chicago's Commission
on Human Relations. Chicago Homeowners will provide 36 education
workshops in the Austin Community to a minimum of 720 community
residents and disseminate educational materials to over 3,000 residents
that will result in at least 35 fair housing complaints to HUD.
By working collaboratively with community partners, the program
will reach a broader number of residents from the targeted populations.
Forest
Park
Progress Center for Independent Living - $100,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - Disability (EOI-D)
A three-member consortium, the Progress Center For Independent Living
(PCIL), The Lake County Center For Independent Living, and The DuPage
Center For Independent Living will expand its fair housing services
to immigrants, Latino groups, the elderly, and other protected classes
in suburban Cook, Lake and DuPage Counties. This 1-year initiative
will continue to establish a foundation of knowledge needed to mobilize
hundreds of people with disabilities in suburban Cook, Lake and
DuPage Counties to engage in fair housing activities and employ
their fair housing rights. Some of the activities will include trainings
for approximately 480 citizens and housing providers, such as bankers,
developers, and local governments; media blitzes in English and
Spanish; and telephone and email outreach to advance product development
and service delivery.
Homewood
South Suburban Housing Center - $177,239.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
South Suburban Housing Center (SSHC) has served more than 100 municipalities
in the south Chicago metropolitan region over the last 28 years.
Encompassing southern Cook, Will, and Kankakee counties, this 1-year
grant will allow SSHC to conduct an array of fair housing investigation
techniques to monitor real estate sales, new construction, mortgage
lending, homeowners insurance, real estate appraisals, and design
accessibility for the disabled. African-Americans, Latinos, the
disabled, and all other protected groups will receive special attention
under this grant. SSHC's work will heighten awareness about predatory
lending; expand testing programs, including conducting fair housing
tests; and increase outreach and enforcement through complaint intakes,
investigations, monitoring, and mediation assistance
Wheaton
HOPE Fair Housing Center - $206,468.04
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
HOPE Fair Housing Center, over the next year, will assist Latinos,
African Americans, the disabled, and new immigrant families file
fair housing complaints. The project will cover several counties,
including DuPage, Kane, McHenry, Western Cook County, and 26 rural
counties. HOPE's successes in the City of Elgin's landmark settlement,
and the HUD complaints/litigation against the City of West Chicago
demand continued efforts, which this funding will support. HOPE
will conduct tests and investigations to uncover such practices
as invasive searches, predatory lending, and discrimination against
the disabled. HOPE partners with more than seven agencies, including
public entities; faith-based organizations; and apartment referral,
social service, and legal assistance agencies.
Winnetka
Interfaith Housing Center of the Northern Suburbs - $80,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The Interfaith Housing Center of the Northern Suburbs will provide
a broad-based and full service fair housing education projects for
the sixteen-community service area of northern Cook and southern
Lake Counties bordering Chicago, Illinois. Interfaith Housing Center
proposes to recruit and train at least 100 local residents in 10
suburbs to become "Fair Housing Advocates". These educated,
organized advocates will distribute fair housing materials in English,
Spanish, Polish, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, and Korean to provide
policies and programs that further fair housing. The ultimate goal
is to ensure that all people have the same opportunities to apply
for and obtain housing in the northern suburbs of Chicago.
Indiana
Granite
ACORN Institute, Inc. - $79,896.80
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
In this project, the ACORN Institute will increase compliance with
the Fair Housing Act through public outreach and education, intensive
HMDA and other data analysis and mapping, investigation of reverse
redlining and other illegalities among predatory lenders, and referral
of complaints to HUD, the Department of Justice, State and local
agencies, and/or private attorneys. This project will be located
in HUD's Southeast/Caribbean region, specifically in low-income
minority neighborhoods in Miami and Orlando, Florida. The ACORN
Institute is able to use research tools to identify the worst offending
lenders in these locations, and then go "on the ground"
to educate the public about subtle, widespread lending discrimination,
and assist people in filing complaints.
Iowa
Des
Moines
Iowa Civil Rights Commission - $79,632.80
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The Iowa Civil Rights Commission will work in collaboration with
Iowa Legal Aid, the Iowa Bureau of Refugee Services, and the Iowa
Division of Latino Affairs to design and implement a comprehensive
cost effective public education program to address fair housing
for immigrants in Iowa. The main components of this project are:
(1) Iowa Civil Rights Commission staff will conduct two sets of
fair housing workshops in 20 Iowa communities. These workshops will
address fair housing specifically as it relates to immigrants. The
first set of workshops will teach service providers, immigrant advocacy
groups, and individual immigrants. The second set of workshops will
be for landlords and property managers. In addition, in coordination
with Iowa Legal Aid, the Iowa Civil Rights Commission will conduct
training on fair housing law for private attorneys through Iowa
Legal Aid's Volunteer Lawyers Project.
Kansas
Topeka
Kansas Legal Services, Inc. - $52,581.69
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
Kansas Legal Services will expand its fair housing education and
outreach activities from four counties in northeastern Kansas to
an additional 22 counties. The program area includes Allen, Anderson,
Atchison, Bourbon, Brown, Cherokee, Coffey, Crawford, Doniphan,
Douglas, Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Labette, Leavenworth,
Linn, Miami, Montgomery, Nemaha, Neosho, Osage, Shawnee, Wilson,
Woodson, and Wyandotte counties. Project activities will include
educating tenants, tenant groups, housing providers, and housing
organization personnel on the Fair Housing Act; educating the public
on the grievance process and how to file a housing discrimination
complaint; expanding the complaint referral process; performing
fair housing complaint intake; expanding the housing resource database
for the expanded project area; and creating and distributing fair
housing resource materials to supplement HUD and FHAP fair housing
publications.
Wichita
Urban League of Wichita, Inc. - $80,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The Urban League of Wichita will strengthen its education and outreach
activities to help meet the needs of non-English speaking immigrants
and other protected classes. The target area consists of 12 counties
- nine in southwestern Kansas and three in south central Kansas,
including the Wichita metropolitan statistical area (MSA). The Urban
League will distribute information on the Fair Housing Act; present
examples of discriminatory rental, sales, insurance and lending
practices; provide lists of local and State agencies that work with
HUD to enforce fair housing laws; encourage complainants to file
with HUD; reach out to local governments, churches, community organizations
and groups to promote fair housing seminars, workshops, and conferences;
promote fair housing through advertisements in print and broadcast
media; maintain easy-to-use complaint filing, referral and follow-up
procedures.
Kentucky
Lexington
Lexington Fair Housing Council, Inc. - $178,000.29
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The Lexington Fair Housing Council (LFHC) will continue to focus
on testing, complaint filings, and referrals during this 18-month
project period. As one of two testing agencies in the State, the
LFHC serves all protected classes. A predatory lending prevention
program will be developed, a speakers' bureau and hotline will be
maintained, and fair housing classes will be conducted for providers.
Another program component provides legal assistance to people or
groups making efforts to desegregate.
Louisville
Kentucky Fair Housing Council - $206,484.17
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The Kentucky Fair Housing Council will respond to the need for fair
housing enforcement by aggressively enforcing the Fair Housing Act
through testing and investigation. Additionally, Council will pursue
pending fair housing cases; recruit and train new testers to complement
the existing tester pool; provide fair housing enforcement training
to staff; and process housing discrimination complaints and enforcement
proposals. The Council will meet with groups and associations whose
members are protected by the Fair Housing Act to teach them about
the law and urge them to refer their members to the FHC for assistance.
Louisiana
New
Orleans
ACORN Community Land Association of LA - $80,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
Louisiana ACORN Fair Housing Organization (LAFHO) is the preeminent
fair housing education and enforcement entity in the State. LAFHO
will continue its aggressive advocacy, research, and education services
through this Outreach and Education Initiative. This project will
dramatically increase equal housing opportunity in southern Louisiana
through HUD 903 referrals, HMDA studies, housing fairs, predatory
lending outreach, faith- and community-based outreach programs,
and mortgage counseling referrals. LAFHO's Outreach and Education
Initiative will also place special emphasis on underserved populations
within the State: rural areas and immigrants/refugees. LAFHO will
undertake project tasks in the following categories: provide fair
housing training to staff, volunteers and board members; conduct
HMDA studies in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles,
Alexandria and Shreveport/Bossier City, and release to media; conduct
Homebuyer Fairs in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lake Charles.
Maryland
Bel
Air
Harford County, Maryland - $77,712.80
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
Harford County recognizes the importance of committing fully to
the grant program in order to meet the needs of its fast growing,
diverse population. Harford County will provide fair housing education
to reduce and eliminate hate/bias. This includes a series of forums
and dialogs with citizens on ending hate crimes. Staff from other
county departments will be assisting both formally and informally
to ensure the program's successful completion. Volunteers have long
been an integral part of implementing the county's fair housing
program. These volunteers come from faith-based, community, grassroots,
and nonprofit agencies. In addition, Harford County will seek to
partner with the Greater Baltimore Community Housing Resource Board
(GBCHRB). The GBCHRB has been providing services in Harford County
since 2002. It will undertake a school-based program by implementing
a fair housing curriculum developed for use in several counties
throughout Maryland.
Massachusetts
Boston
Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston, Inc. - $206,486.04
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston (FHCGB) will enhance its
enforcement activities in the greater Boston area. By emphasizing
increased awareness of potential housing discrimination, FHCGB will
continue to direct its services toward people of all protected classes,
with specific outreach to the underserved populations of low- and
moderate-income persons, the disabled, people of color, first-time
homebuyers, people who are homeless, and non-English speaking immigrants.
Leveraging its partnerships, FHCGB will launch media-driven and
community-based educational campaigns and enforcement efforts. This
18-month undertaking will lead to several activities such as complaint
intake, investigation, and testing, development of systemic cases,
recruitment and training of 50 testers, and legal seminars for cooperating
attorneys.
Holyoke
Housing Discrimination Project - $206,489.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The Housing Discrimination Project proposes to conduct full fair
housing services in central and western Massachusetts. Project activities
will include complaint in-take, investigation and testing of complaints,
development of systemic cases, recruitment and training of testers,
organizations of legal seminars for cooperating attorneys to train
them to investigate and litigate individual and systemic cases.
The project will direct media and enforcement efforts, and community
educational campaigns, toward traditionally underserved populations.
Springfield
HAP, Inc. - $79,996.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
HAP, Inc. is a regional nonprofit housing partnership with a 30-year
history of working to expand and facilitate access to affordable
housing opportunities throughout Hampden and Hampshire counties
in Western Massachusetts. HAP will conduct a Fair Housing Education
and Outreach Project in partnership with the Housing Discrimination
Project, Inc., a regional nonprofit agency offering fair housing
advocacy services. The project will use a variety of outreach, education,
and counseling services. Some activities will include training and
counseling on fair housing laws and rights to people in all protected
classes; fair housing education to tenants, including disabled people
and those using Section 8 for homeownership, information on predatory
lending practices; fair housing education to social service agencies
and advocates working with protected classes and persons with disabilities.
Taunton
Pro-Home, Inc. - $45,076.80
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
Pro-Home, Inc. will provide Fair Housing education and outreach
initiatives in the City of Taunton, and the Towns of Berkley, Dighton,
Easton, Lakeville, Middleboro, Norton, and Raynham. This project
will work toward expansion of the Taunton Fair Housing Commission
to these other towns by providing educational symposia, distributing
fair housing materials to town leaders, and conducting outreach
and information about fair housing to citizens. This project will
reach an additional 91,000 residents and will provide a comprehensive
range of fair housing education and outreach services and related
housing services to a large geographic area that currently has no
local fair housing agency to service it.
Michigan
Flint
Legal Services of Eastern Michigan - $161,438.04
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
Legal Services of Eastern Michigan (LSEM), a 52-year-old history
of serving Genesee County, will deliver free, civil legal services
to residents of Bay, Midland, and Saginaw counties. From two sites
(Flint and Saginaw), individuals, families, and housing industry
professionals will receive outreach and education services to raise
their awareness of anti-discrimination laws and enforcement initiatives
that offer relief to victims of housing discrimination. All protected
classes will benefit from outreach and complaint-based testing that
is also slated for Huron, Lapeer, Sanilac, and Tuscola counties.
With local community- and faith-based agencies and local governments
and businesses, the 1-year project will leverage its resources to
conduct testing, complaint intake, investigation, enforcement, and
limited research.
Minnesota
Minneapolis
Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis - $206,489.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
Mid-Minnesota Legal Assistance's Housing Discrimination Law Project
plans to expand its current services to low-income and disabled
individuals in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. Complaints
will receive intake and referral services and benefit from investigation,
testing, negotiation, and litigation. Metropolitan Interfaith Council
on Affordable Housing is one of several partners helping CRLC to
reach new immigrant communities.
Minneapolis
Urban League - $79,240.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The Minneapolis Urban League will provide community education on
the characteristics of housing discrimination, the impact of housing
discrimination, and the enforcement of fair housing laws and practices
for African Americans and East African refugees living in the Empowerment
Zone neighborhoods in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Some activities will
include: making at least 40 Fair Housing group presentations to
community residents; distributing HUD-approved literature to the
targeted population at community events, neighborhood meetings and
other community gatherings; holding 30 information and referral
meetings with clients; referring complaints to HUD as a result of
face-to-face meetings or calls to the Housing Discrimination Hotline.
St.
Paul
ACORN Housing Corporation - $80,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
In this project, ACORN Housing Corporation (AHC) in partnership
with ACORN Fair Housing (AFH) and Minnesota ACORN will increase
compliance with the Fair Housing Act through public outreach and
education; intensive HMDA and other data analysis and mapping; investigation
of reverse redlining and other illegalities among predatory lenders;
and referral of complaints to HUD, the Department of Justice, State
and local agencies, and/or private attorneys. This project will
be implemented in HUD's Minnesota region, specifically in Minneapolis
and St. Paul neighborhoods with large numbers of African-Americans
and recent immigrants from Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Mississippi
Hattiesburg
University of Southern Mississippi - $100,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - Disability (EOI-D)
HousingSmart is a project of the University of Southern Mississippi,
Institute for Disability Studies that serves Mississippians to ensure
equal opportunity in housing, particularly as it relates to individuals
with disabilities. In collaboration with the Mississippi Protection
and Advocacy System, Inc., the Mississippi Leadership Council on
Aging, and the Mississippi Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities,
among others, this 15-month project will also attend to the elderly,
minorities, and families with limited English proficiency by providing
extensive fair housing education and outreach services. Services
encompass written and electronic media, fair housing workshops,
presentations, and confidential, private trainings for domestic
violence survivors in four congressional districts.
Jackson
Housing Education and Economic Development - $79,080.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
This project will allow Housing Education and Economic Development
(HEED) to conduct fair housing education and outreach activities
throughout Jackson, Mississippi, and underserved counties where
there has been a significant increase in the Hispanic population.
HEED seeks to expand its education and outreach activities to collaborate
with Hispanic, civil rights, disability, and other community-based
advocate organizations and will work in conjunction with these organizations
to provide seminars and workshops to Mississippi residents informing
the protected classes of their rights under Title VIII of the Fair
Housing Act.
Sardis
North Delta Mississippi Enterprise Community - $200,732.04
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The North Delta Mississippi Enterprise Community (NDMEC) will build
on its existing work in the rural, economically impoverished regions
of Panola, Quitman, and Tallahatchie counties. Over a 12-month period,
NDMEC's work will serve all protected classes, with African Americans
receiving particular attention. At least 250 residents will receive
education about their fair housing rights and recourse through workshops,
seminars, and literature, while partnerships with key local agencies
such as town and county governments and private entities will facilitate
training for bank and mortgage financing staff, housing providers,
and realtors. NDMEC's Fair Housing Clinic will conduct legal counseling
and complaint intake, including referrals to HUD.
Missouri
St.
Louis
Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council - $206,489.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council (EHOC)
serves the metropolitan St. Louis area, plus counties in southern
Illinois and eastern Missouri. This year long project will assist
home seekers of all protected classes. Activities include plans
to conduct investigations; refer cases to HUD or equivalent agencies;
conduct rental, sales, and lending tests and predatory lending audits;
create new outlets for disseminating literature; and produce print
and electronic versions of the quarterly newsletter, OPENDOORS.
An all-day conference for housing providers, public officials, advocates,
and the general public is planned.
Urban
League of Metropolitan St. Louis, Inc. - $100,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative-Minority Home Ownership (EOI-HO)
The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, Inc. has four major
program areas: employment, education, community outreach and housing.
This project will complement what the Urban League has been doing
in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area to reduce discriminatory practices
against minorities. The Urban League will (1) conduct educational
symposia that will inform the public about their rights and responsibilities
under the Fair Housing Act, (2) develop a referral system that will
generate complaints to HUD within the time period, (3) obtain Fair
Housing Act literature for distribution to Urban League clients
through a variety of community outreach activities, and (4) provide
home buyers training to increase homeownership. The target area
is the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area with a major focus
in North St. Louis County, City of St. Louis, East St. Louis, IL,
Belleville, IL, Fairview Heights and Cahokia, IL.
Nebraska
Chadron
GH Plains Community Development Corporation, Inc. - $58,652.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
High Plains is the only comprehensive housing organization for all
of western Nebraska. Because of the comprehensive nature of the
organization, High Plains receives regular inquires about fair housing
and general issues and concerns about housing. The communities of
northwest Nebraska served by High Plains are rural, small cities
spread apart. The population of each community ranges from 1,800
to 7,800 people, with large ranches and farms scattered between
communities. The communities of Dawes and Sheridan Counties in the
north border the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations of South Dakota,
while the communities of Box Butte and Sioux Counties have large
Hispanic and migrant labor populations. High Plains will target
these populations and provide fair housing education and outreach
to those victimized in the rental housing markets
Omaha
Family Housing Advisory Services, Inc. - $206,462.04
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
During an 18-month period, the Fair Housing Center of Nebraska (FHCN)
will expand its enforcement activities to underserved populations
of Nebraska and western Iowa. It will focus on services to people
with disabilities, Native Americans, the homeless, and new immigrant
populations, especially individuals and families with limited or
no English skills. Residents in urban and rural regions of the both
States will be the direct beneficiaries of services that range from
testing, with 60% of them based on rental transactions to investigations
leading to HUD or equivalent agency referrals, if appropriate; and
on-site intake at homeless shelters and other facilities. FHCN partners
include the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission and faith-based
and grassroots community organizations such as St. Vincent de Paul
Shelter, Nebraska Aids Project, and the Creighton Law Clinic.
Nevada
Reno
Silver State Fair Housing Council - $80,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
Silver State Fair Housing Council (SSFHC) is a Qualified Fair Housing
Organization. With the exception of Washoe County and Carson City
in northern Nevada, and Clark County in southern Nevada, none of
the remaining 14 counties in the State has a community with a population
of over 25,000 inhabitants. SSFHC is the only agency to provide
much-needed fair housing education and outreach services to residents
throughout northern Nevada. In addition, SSFHC receives requests
for fair housing education programs in Clark County. SSFHC will
continue its established program to the following Nevada counties:
Washoe, Carson City, Douglas, Lyon, Storey, Churchill, Pershing,
Elko, Humboldt, Nye, Lander, Eureka, White Pine, and Mineral. SSFHC
will also conduct accredited fair housing education classes in Clark
County on a limited basis.
New Jersey
Hackensack
Fair Housing Council of Northern New Jersey - $206,489.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
As a full-service fair housing agency, the Fair Housing Council
of Northern New Jersey (FHCNJ) will increase its enforcement actions
to serve the disabled and persons of all protected classes, including
religious, racial, persons of color, and ethnic minorities. Serving
individuals and families, this 12-month project will accomplish
sales and rental tests; investigate complaints, with appropriate
HUD referrals; and recruit and train new testers. With partners
such as HUD, FHCNJ conducts statewide sales and rental testing.
Advertising the program is planned as a recruitment tool.
NJ
Citizen Action - $80,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
NJ Citizen Action serves the entire state of New Jersey. The goals
of the project are to avoid and report predatory lending practices
and to generate Fair Housing Act complaints to HUD by increasing
the: (1) knowledge and understanding of community leaders about
predatory lending practices in New Jersey, (2) knowledge of low-
and moderate-income consumers in Essex County, New Jersey, to avoid
predatory lending practices, and (3) identification and referral
of fair housing complaints and cases to HUD. NJ Citizen Action will
use the following methods: four train-the-trainer workshops for
community leaders; 125 consumer education workshops for low and
moderate income and disabled adults; identification and training
of victims of predatory lending to serve as spokespersons in a media
campaign; print and broadcast public education media campaign; and
training of organizations on model workout solution.
South
Orange
Community Health Law Project - $100,000
Education and Outreach Initiative - Disability (EOI-D)
The
Community Health Law Project (CHLP) will educate consumers about
the fair housing rights of people with disabilities throughout New
Jersey. The initiative will focus on the construction of covered
multifamily housing that violates State and Federal architectural
barrier laws; exclusionary zoning that limits or excludes community
residences for people with mental and developmental disabilities;
and refusal to make reasonable modifications and accommodations
to policies. In partnership with the Fair Housing Council of Northern
New Jersey, the Housing Coalition of Central Jersey, and the Fair
Housing Council of Southern New Jersey, the CHLP's activities will
include: contacting at least 30 nonprofit and government agencies
and offering fair housing educational symposia to their constituents,
reviewing and reprinting fair housing manuals, and conducting 15
education symposia throughout New Jersey.
Trenton
New Jersey Department of Community Affairs - $79,667.20
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs' (DCA) Division of
Housing and Community Resources will implement a statewide Fair
Housing Education and Outreach Initiative. The goals of this campaign
are to: (1) reduce housing discrimination through education efforts;
(2) help underserved populations gain better access to housing options;
and (3) to increase the number of complaints referred to the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the State Civil
Rights Office or a local fair housing agency. Outreach efforts will
be primarily targeted towards immigrants and underserved populations
within the State of New Jersey who are potential victims of discrimination.
New Mexico
Albuquerque
Protection and Advocacy System - $100,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - Disability (EOI-D)
The Protection and Advocacy System of New Mexico (P&A-NM) plans
to improve access to housing for underserved populations in southern
and central New Mexico, with the following groups as its target
population: persons with mental or physical disabilities, non-English
speakers, recent immigrants, residents of the Colonias, the homeless,
and the elderly. By collaborating with grassroots and faith-based
organizations, at least two persons representing each of the target
populations (ideally, a member of an advocacy group and a self-advocate)
will receive training on federal, State and local fair housing laws
and accessing enforcement processes.
Santa
Fe
City of Santa Fe - $79,840.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The City of Santa Fe will continue its current fair housing project,
Projyecta de Vivienda Dzgna. This project addresses the region's
most significant impediment to fair housing - the lack of fair housing
services. This project will address education and outreach in a
number of ways, these being: (1) through administration; (2) through
assisting victims with HUD's process for filing a complaint; and
(3) through referring victims to partner agencies for specific assistance.
Activities include ongoing training and capacity building for staff
of City and subcontractors; continuing the distribution, updating,
and creation of informational materials; operating the Fair Housing
Hotline; providing ongoing fair housing workshops for the general
public, targeted audiences and Spanish-speakers; providing bi-lingual
homebuyer training and counseling; and integrating a fair lending
component to the project.
New York
Bohemia
Long Island Housing Services - $204,239.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
Long Island Housing Services (LIHS) enforces fair housing on behalf
of individuals in all protected classes. The project will extend
outreach to Long Island's population of Hispanics, African Americans,
and people with disabilities. LIHS' work also extends to service
providers. Testing will continue as a major initiative and will
be accompanied by specific training and education to develop liaisons,
including facilitation of a coalition of HUD-approved housing counseling
agencies to address predatory lending. Over the 12-month period,
LIHS will: (1) conduct compliance monitoring for handicap accessibility
at new construction sites; (2) recruit and train testers; and (3)
conduct enforcement testing of realtors, including discriminatory
actions toward families with children.
Brooklyn
South Brooklyn Legal Services - $135,239.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The South Brooklyn Legal Services (SBLS), formerly known as the
Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation, will generate and accept referrals
of protected-class clients who allege housing discrimination in
home financing and sales. This 12-month grant allows for legal and
other assistance to help targeted homeowners avoid foreclosure by
screening, investigating, and analyzing all complaints for appropriate
referrals. SBLS will work with in-kind contributors and a subcontractor,
Concord Baptist Church of Christ Community Development Corporation.
Consumers will benefit from community education workshops and other
fair housing outreach.
Buffalo
The Buffalo Urban League, Inc. - $100,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative-Minority Home Ownership (EOI-HO)
The Buffalo Urban League will undertake a number of activities designed
to educate potential minority homeowners. These activities will
prepare minorities for homeownership by informing them about their
rights under the Fair Housing Act with respect to the sale, advertising,
and financing of homes while also providing them with information
on how to avoid predatory lending scams and how to identify "steering"
in the sale, advertising, and financing of homes. These educational
activities will be directed to all protected classes through churches,
community colleges, union meetings, affordable housing events, and
newspapers targeted at the minority community. The Buffalo Urban
League will conduct workshops, add a fair housing rights awareness
component to existing home buyer education courses, organize a housing
fair, and develop brochures and posters in English and Spanish.
New
York City
AAFE Community Development Fund, Inc. - $80,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
For the last eight years, the AAFE Community Development Fund (AAFE
CDF) has been educating the immigrant and low- to moderate- income
first-time homebuyer populations of New York City on the home buying
and homeownership process. The AAFE CDF Fair Housing Education and
Outreach program will target the fair housing/lending needs of New
York City's Asian, immigrant, senior, and LMI first-time homebuyer
populations. Through the use of linguistically and culturally sensitive
outreach, the AAFE CDF will educate its communities regarding predatory
lending, homeownership discrimination, and how to fully exercise
their individual rights. The AAFE CDF's outreach and education will
include multilingual predatory lending handbooks, brochures, videos,
TV advertisements, radio broadcasts, media outreach, fairs, workshops,
seminars, as well as one-on-one counseling.
Bronx
Independent Living Services, Inc. - $100,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - Disability (EOI-D)
Bronx Independent Living Services (BILS), over the next 12 months,
will conduct an education and outreach program that informs consumers
about their fair housing rights and responsibilities. The project
will offer services to all Bronx residents, particularly disabled
residents residing in the South Bronx Empowerment Zone. Other beneficiaries
include trade associations for building owners, managers, and real
estate brokers, along with other fair housing organizations serving
the Bronx. Outreach and education, through mailings, mass media,
and public events, will be accomplished in collaboration with community-based
organizations serving people with disabilities and immigrants. Additional
program initiatives include refining the complaint referral process,
identifying potential claimants, and providing fair housing training
to the staffs of various nonprofit, for-profit, and government organizations.
HELP
Social Service Corporation - $80,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
HELP Social Service Corporation, one of the largest providers of
housing and services for homeless and low-income people, will offer
a wide range of fair housing training, education and outreach activities
targeted at homeless clients, homeless service provider/housing
staff, and realtors and landlords in the private housing market.
The fair housing program will utilize a four-tiered approach to
further HUD's policy priorities regarding fair housing, by targeting
the following groups: Housing Specialists/ Homeless Service Provider
Staff; Homeless Individuals and Families; Landlords, Realtors and
Brokers; and Policy Makers in the New York City Department of Homeless
Services. Activities will include the preparation and distribution
of materials; workshops, trainings, and community forums; and a
wide range of activities.
Neighborhood
Economic Development Advocacy Project - $80,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project (NEDAP) will
bring together collaborations between grassroots faith-based and
other community groups and legal services organizations in all five
boroughs of New York. NEDAP will carry out extensive education and
outreach services to residents and organizations in each of the
five New York City boroughs by: (1) creating or updating detailed,
color computer maps that depict lending patterns and identify concentrations
of possible fair lending and fair housing violations; (2) continuing
to conduct an aggressive media campaign to increase media coverage
of fair lending issues; and (3) continuing to publicize and maintain
a telephone hotline, internet web site, e-mail address and other
methods to disseminate fair housing and fair 1ending information.
Rochester
Housing Council in the Monroe County Area, Inc. - $79,984.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The Housing Council project will focus on education and outreach
activities that improve housing opportunities for racial/ethnic
minorities, new immigrants, residents of underserved rural areas,
the homeless, and persons with disabilities. Workshops will be offered
in English, Spanish, Vietnamese and other languages. The workshops
will describe resources available for enforcement of fair housing
laws. The Housing Council will work with several local pre-purchase
programs to present fair housing information to homebuyers. The
sessions will emphasize recognition and understanding of fair housing
and resources available for the enforcement of fair housing laws.
Monroe
County Legal Assistance Corporation - $206,489.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
With this 18-month grant, Monroe County Legal Assistance Corporation
(MCLAC) will leverage its funding to continue the Fair Housing Enforcement
Project (FHEP), which began five years ago. MCLAC provides free
legal services that remedy and reduce housing discrimination in
Monroe County, which is composed of both urban and suburban areas
in upstate New York, including the City of Rochester. The project
will also span 13 counties, an increase of five over the previous
project period. An estimated 1,682,563 people in all protected classes
will receive services, with particular outreach to persons with
disabilities and minorities, especially Latinos living in rural
areas. Testing and enforcement activities will be expanded to western
New York.
Syracuse
Fair Housing Council of CNY - $132,065.96
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The Fair Housing Council of Central New York, Inc. plans to conduct
a 12-month project that will leverage this grant, coupled with local
and in-kind resources, to serve residents of Cayuga, Onondaga, Oswego,
Oneida, Jefferson, and St. Lawrence counties in upstate New York.
With a focus on the disabled, new immigrant, and non-English-speaking
populations in the City of Syracuse and rural St. Lawrence and Jefferson
counties, project activities will include at least four tester training
sessions; rental, sales, lending tests; and complaint intake for
50 new clients accompanied by appropriate investigations and referrals.
To promote awareness, the project will conduct a minimum of 12 educational
workshops. Existing collaborations with local agencies will augment
the work under this initiative.
White
Plains
Westchester Residential Opportunities, Inc. - $79,974.40
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
Westchester/Putnam Fair Housing Network will build partnerships
with faith based, grass roots and community groups to educate citizens
on fair housing rights. The staff/Boards/ leadership of Network
partners will receive training to assist their constituencies in
identifying and responding to fair housing violations, will host
a minimum of 12 workshops to be held in the two-county area, and
will reach a minimum of 250 people including new Hispanic immigrants
and the disabled. Westchester Residential Opportunities (WRO) will
conduct education within its other housing counseling components,
including WRO's first time homebuyer counseling service.
North Carolina
Raleigh
Housing Rights Center of Wake County, Inc. - $80,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The Housing Rights Center of Wake County, Inc. (The Center) will
conduct a fair housing project to focus exclusively in Wake County
and Chatham County, North Carolina (the project area). The project
will serve members of all protected classes and the greater community
living in the project area, with a focus on low-income immigrants
and members of racial and ethnic minorities. The Center's project
will address existing housing discrimination and segregation. The
lack of affordable rental housing and homeownership opportunities,
in addition to the rapid growth of the Hispanic communities statewide,
illustrate the need for special fair housing outreach. The Center
will be able to conduct fair housing workshops in English and Spanish
to help individuals to understand and exercise their fair housing
rights in Wake and Chatham Counties.
Ohio
Akron
Fair Housing Contact Service - $206,489.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The Fair Housing Contact Service (FHCS), in partnership with the
Tri-County Independent Living Center and Housing Advocates, Inc.,
will undertake this 18-month initiative that plans systematic tests
to identify sources of housing discrimination, accompanied by enforcement
of laws that afford relief to protected classes of individuals.
Particular attention will be given to persons with physical and
mental disabilities. Serving Medina County, FHCS' testing base will
target congregate living arrangements in the private and public
sectors. The testing will ultimately aid in identifying impediments
to providing requisite housing for disabled populations, while instituting
legal intervention, mediation, information dissemination, and other
appropriate measures to alleviate and/or remove them.
Cincinnati
Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Cincinnati - $206,357.04
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Cincinnati (HOME) will leverage
this grant to continue addressing the fair housing issues facing
recent immigrants to the Greater Cincinnati area. As the target
population of this grant, the Latino/Hispanic population will benefit
from education and outreach programs delivered in Spanish. Expanding
on its current work, which consists of random audits of apartments
and complaint referrals, HOME will use this 18-month grant to support
more enforcement, testing, and education. Immigrants will benefit
from homeownership and predatory lending sessions and a Section
8 workshop. This undertaking will reinforce current collaborative
efforts with local government and community agencies.
Cleveland
Housing Research & Advocacy Center - $206,489.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The Housing Research & Advocacy Center proposes to provide a
full service and broad based fair housing enforcement project. The
Housing Research & Advocacy Center has experience in testing,
research and investigation, education, and outreach efforts and
enforcement. The Housing Research & Advocacy Center will provide
fair housing services in the Cleveland, Ohio Metropolitan Area and
while the Housing Research & Advocacy Center and its subcontractors
will provide a full service fair housing program to all protected
class members, the need is greatest for blacks and the disabled.
Thus the project will focus on tasks designed to reduce discrimination
against blacks and persons with disabilities in all housing services
including rental, sales, insurance, and lending in the targeted
area.
The
Housing Advocates, Inc. - $80,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The Housing Advocates, Inc., will develop and disseminate PowerPoint
presentations (modified to reach different audiences), public service
announcements, brochures, and other educational materials on the
dangers of predatory lending. These educational materials would
be made available in both Spanish and English and made available
at educational seminars to be held throughout Cuyahoga and Lorain
Counties (Ohio). The seminars would be targeted to clergy and lay
staff, law enforcement personnel, consumer and bankruptcy attorneys,
and homeowners and homebuyers. These newly educated religious leaders
will sponsor community education events on predatory lending and
invite their congregation to these church-sponsored programs.
Dayton
Miami Valley Fair Housing Center, Inc. - $206,488.29
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The Miami Valley Fair Housing Center (MVFHC) will oversee a 12-month
initiative that augments its existing enforcement activities, particularly
those that address racial steering as a form of housing discrimination.
MVFHS will continue its Predatory Lending Solutions project, which
focuses on the disproportionate impact of this type of lending on
African Americans and minority neighborhoods in Montgomery County.
Through educational and outreach programs, the project will teach
people to recognize and report housing discrimination in all of
its various forms, including rental, sales, lending, insurance,
and racial or sexual harassment.
Painesville
Fair Housing Resource Center - $206,489.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The Fair Housing Resource Center (FHRC) enforcement efforts within
Lake County will involve testing the rental market for discrimination
against African Americans, Latinos, families with children, and
persons with disabilities. During the 18-month period, the FHRC
will increase the number of meritorious claims submitted to HUD
and complete first-time testing of the sale and lending markets.
This project will expand existing community partnerships with local
government, community organizations, and housing professionals.
Toledo
Fair Housing Center - $206,489.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
Since 1975, the Fair Housing Center (FHC) has delivered comprehensive
enforcement, education and outreach, housing counseling, technical
assistance, research, and community reinvestment programs. Residents
of Toledo and other northwest Ohio denizens will benefit from FHC's
continued work under this 18-month grant. Collaborative efforts
with the League of Women Voters, the Old West End Neighborhood Association,
and several individuals and community groups augment service delivery
to African Americans, Asian Americans, Caucasians, and Latinos.
Project activities will include: (1) presentations at all levels
of governments; (2) complaint administration and HUD referrals;
and (3) management of national media campaigns and training sessions
for real estate professionals, testers, and staff in related fields.
Oklahoma
Tulsa
Housing Partners of Tulsa, Inc. - $69,974.24
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The Housing Partners of Tulsa is a HUD certified housing counseling
agency, as a result of a HUD FHIP grant The Housing Partners of
Tulsa anticipates designing, coordinating and implementing an education
and outreach program to increase compliance with the federal Fair
Housing Act and with substantially equivalent State and local fair
housing laws by informing the public of its rights under the Fair
Housing Act. In addition, the Housing Partners of Tulsa will develop
a complaint referral process to facilitate referrals to HUD of fair
housing complaints and other information regarding possible fair
housing violations.
Oregon
Portland
Fair Housing Council of Oregon - $206,471.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The Fair Housing Council of Oregon (FHCO) during this 18-month project
will provide fair housing enforcement in Oregon and Clark County,
Washington, serving primarily rural residents and new immigrants
from Latino, Russian, Asian, African, and Middle Eastern communities.
Numerous local partners, including culturally competent interpreters
and a bilingual staff, enhance the Council's work, which will entail
recruiting and training new testers, continuing to operate its statewide
toll-free hotline, and conducting complaint-driven tests and audit
tests of the rental, and mortgage lending markets. Testing in the
assisted living and disabled accommodations markets will occur,
especially for foster care homes that serve mentally disabled adults.
Legal
Aid Services of Oregon - $79,727.20
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
Legal Aid Services of Oregon (LASO) in partnership with the Fair
Housing Council of Oregon (FHCO) will perform education and outreach
activities in Marion, Multnomah, Clackamas, Yamhill, Washington,
Umatilla, and Curry counties in Oregon and Clark County in Washington.
Education and outreach activities will be coordinated through organizations
that have regular contact with the targeted populations and will
feature customized workshops. Workshop audiences will include case
managers, family advocates, senior services providers, ESL and other
instructors serving the targeted populations, social workers, clergy,
laity leaders and volunteers of faith-based organizations, grassroots
community organizers, immigrant community leaders, and media representatives.
Pennsylvania
Erie
St. Martins Center, Inc. - $54,400.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The
St. Martin Center (SMC) is a faith based social service agency who
will focus on addressing the needs and improving the lives of the
under served population. SMC intends to improve and streamline the
fair housing complaint and tracking mechanism as it applies to the
filing of fair housing complaints. In addition, the goal for SMC
is to expand informational and educational efforts to both the rental
and purchase of real estate to low income groups, minorities, immigrants,
and disabled populations. These population segments need to know
their rights under the Fair Housing Act, how to file a complaint,
and where to forward the complaint in Erie County.
Glenside
Fair Housing Council of Montgomery County - $206,489.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The Fair Housing Council of Montgomery County, a Qualified Fair
Housing Enforcement Organization proposes to conduct full service
enforcement projects in Philadelphia and the surrounding four counties
of Montgomery, Bucks, Chester and Delaware. The proposed enforcement
services will provide to all people protected by federal and state
fair housing laws and will focus on enforcing fair housing for underserved
populations, including immigrants, minorities, and people of with
disabilities. The goal of this project is to provide full service
enforcement to all protected classes in the defined area with specific
emphasis on housing discrimination against Hispanic immigrants,
African Americans, and people with disabilities in both rental and
home buying opportunities.
Pittsburgh
Housing Partnership of Greater Pittsburgh, Inc. - $203,821.29
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
With this 12-month grant, the Fair Housing Partnership of Greater
Pittsburgh will augment its fair housing enforcement presence to
ensure equal opportunities in housing and continued advocacy services
in the greater Pittsburgh region. Specific outreach to the Hispanic/Latino
community and to other growing immigrant populations will be the
focus of this initiative. Project activities will include complaint
investigation from people of all protected classes, with a special
focus on race, national origin, and disability. Plans entail testing
for reasonable accommodation and modifications; accessibility surveys
of newly constructed housing; and testing based on psychiatric disability,
HIV/AIDS status, and transitional living from nursing homes into
the community.
Scranton
United Neighborhood Centers of Lackawanna County, Inc. - $59,698.74
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The United Neighborhood Centers of Lackawanna County (UNC) will
partner with the Nativity of Our Lord Parish, the center of the
new Hispanic community in Lackawanna County to educate the general
public with special emphasis on the protected classes, about fair
housing laws in a community with a rapidly changing demographic
population and identify possible victims of discrimination. UNC
will train volunteers to assist in door-to-door canvassing of the
high concentration census tracts. The results will assist UNC in
identifying individuals and / or organizations in need of concentrated
education. (i.e. specific land lords, real estate agents etc.).
The long-term outcome of these efforts will be more diverse neighborhood
in Lackawanna County with equal housing opportunities for all people.
Swarthmore
Fair Housing Council of Suburban Philadelphia, Inc. - $79,986.40
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The Fair Housing Council of Suburban Philadelphia (FHCSP) has 47
years of experience in providing effective, quality fair housing
services to consumers and housing providers. This project will reduce
instances of housing discrimination against members of protected
classes in the Greater Philadelphia area through educational activities,
focusing especially on the needs of the region's Hispanic and new
immigrant populations, people with disabilities, racial/ethnic minorities,
and those most vulnerable to predatory lending practices. FHCSP
will subcontract with Lutheran Children and Family Services of Eastern
Pennsylvania (LCFS), The Fair Housing Council of Montgomery County
(FHCMC), and The Self-Determination Housing Project of Pennsylvania
(SDHP).
Fair
Housing Council of Suburban Philadelphia, Inc - $1,050,000.00
Fair Housing Organizations Initiative (FHOI)
Fair Housing Council of Suburban Philadelphia (FHCSP) will team
with the Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (CLASI) to provide a
variety of fair housing enforcement services in Kent and Sussex
counties in Delaware. The project will focus on the fair housing
needs of non-English speaking immigrants, people with disabilities,
economically disadvantaged minorities, and families and rural populations
in Kent and Sussex counties. FHCSP is the nation's oldest fair housing
council, while CLASI is Delaware's oldest and largest provider of
legal services to the poor, elderly and individuals with disabilities.
South Carolina
Greenville
County Human Relations - $80,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The Greenville County Human Relations Commission is a HUD approved
housing counseling agency that provides fair housing education and
outreach to four counties in upstate South Carolina. Through partnerships
with the City of Greenville, South Carolina, GCHRC anticipates increasing
its education and outreach from four basic components including
a poster campaign, speaker's bureau, a fair housing children's network
and faith based collaborations, to include a fair housing newsletter,
fair housing hotline and a fair housing symposium.
Tennessee
Chattanooga
City of Chattanooga - $80,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
In collaboration with three community-based nonprofit organizations,
the City of Chattanooga, Tennessee Community Services Department
will promote awareness of fair housing rights and obligations for
over 5,000 households within neighborhoods that demonstrate a higher
likelihood of fair housing issues. The collaboration will use a
door-to-door campaign and a series of community meetings. The project
will include a fair housing conference to reach constituent groups
such as those who are disabled or homeless, as well as other stakeholders
throughout the City. This conference will provide educational opportunities
not only to renters, homeowners and potential homeowners, but also
to landlords, attorneys, lenders, social service agencies, and other
interested parties.
Jackson
West Tennessee Legal Services, Inc. - $206,489.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
West Tennessee Legal Services (WTLS), in conjunction with legal
services agencies throughout the State, will provide enforcement
services, including those that combat predatory lending. During
this 1-year project, all protected classes will be served, with
special emphasis on immigrants, including Latinos; rural, medically
and mentally disabled, and homeless populations; and HIV/AIDS patients.
Partners such as the Tennessee Human Rights Commission, the State
Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities, and
the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change will collaborate
to transact complaint litigations, testing in all markets including
advertising, teacher training, and workshops.
Memphis
City of Memphis - $80,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The City of Memphis, Tennessee (City), acting through its Division
of Housing and Community Development (HCD), will implement a program
designed to meet three of HUD's strategic goals: to promote decent,
affordable housing; to increase homeownership opportunities; and
to ensure equal opportunity in housing, by promoting public awareness
of fair housing laws and improving housing accessibility for persons
with disabilities. The program will serve residents of Memphis,
where the population is two-thirds non-White (2000 Census). The
following program activities will impact all protected classes with
an emphasis on populations to be served: provide bilingual (Spanish/English)
outreach and education regarding fair housing rights to all protected
classes; provide education and outreach concerning predatory lending
to primarily minority, low and moderate-income participants in City;
and encourage accessible design features.
Texas
Austin
Austin Tenants Council - $195,503.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
During a 1-year period, Austin Tenants Council (ATC) will heighten
public awareness of the continued effects of housing discrimination
in the Austin Metropolitan Statistical Area, focusing on issues
germane to disabled persons, recent immigrant populations, and racial
minorities experiencing discrimination since the September 11 attacks.
Collaborating with the Texas Commission on Human Rights and other
agencies, attorneys will help educate consumers about their rights
and provide effective remedies such as legal services, including
litigation. Additional activities include testing, tracking complaints,
assisting disabled persons with their requests for reasonable accommodations,
submission of proposals to HUD, and other services.
Corpus
Christi
Accessible Communities, Inc. - $100,000
Education and Outreach Initiative - Disability (EOI-D)
Coastal Bend Center for Independent Living (ACL), an Accessible
Communities agency, will operate a 1-year project informing and
educating citizens and staff in housing-related industries. This
projects target population will be persons with disabilities in
particular, and citizens on the City of Corpus Christi and surrounding
communities. The project partner, Corpus Christi Fair Housing Education
Program, will conduct presentations, provide trainings, and disseminate
information about fair housing rights and remedies. Rental housing
management staff, realtors, representatives of financial institutions
and consumers, will collaborate on special housing problems experienced
by the disabled and the continuity of fair housing outreach activities
under this program.
Fort
Worth
Tarrant County - $73,936.80
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
Tarrant County has a land area of 863-square miles and a population
of 1,446,219 in 43 separate municipalities. Tarrant County strives
to ensure the equal protection of all its citizens from fair housing
discrimination through the Administrator's Community Development
Division (CDD). CDD's activities will include: creating a fair housing
curriculum, translating all fair housing materials into Spanish,
conducting formal educational forums in each of the County's four
precincts, conducting educational forums for Spanish-speaking individuals,
conducting additional forums upon request, performing outreach with
other at-risk communities (including persons with disabilities,
minorities, and low-income/homeless persons), and disseminating
literature throughout the County.
Houston
Greater Houston Fair Housing Center, Inc. - $206,106.54
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The Greater Houston Fair Housing Center (GHFHC) proposes to provide
continuing housing enforcement services in the Houston metropolitan
area. The activities will include: a complete bilingual service
capability in English and Spanish, the intake, investigation and
testing for complaints: the development of systematic investigations:
the recruitment and training of testers: the referral of appropriate
cases to HUD and other agencies in the discovery of fair housing
discrimination.
San
Antonio
San Antonio Fair Housing Council, Inc. - $204,173.04
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The San Antonio Fair Housing Council, Inc. proposed activities include
complaint investigation and testing audits dealing with accessibility,
real estate sales, and mortgage lending, will support HUD's strategic
goal and objectives of ensuring equal opportunity in housing, by
investigating and resolving housing discrimination complaints in
a timely basis, promoting public awareness of fair housing laws,
and improving housing accessibility for persons with disabilities
and the elderly.
Vermont
Burlington
Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity - $79,692.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO) will
focus on increasing homeownership opportunities for minority populations
and people with disabilities in Vermont. CVOEO will provide trainings
and information directly to prospective minority homebuyers and
the immigrant communities while FHP continues to provide information,
intake, and other investigation and referral services. The broad
public outreach plan includes the development of public service
announcements for radio, bus sign advertisements for at least the
Burlington and Rutland area buses, as well as a fair housing educational
handbook for consumers geared to Vermont. CVOEO will distribute
fair housing materials (including translations in several different
languages) to community groups, municipalities, and faith-based
organizations.
Vermont
Center for Independent Living - $65,336.80
Education and Outreach Initiative - Disability Component (EOI-D)
The Vermont Center for Independent Living (VCIL) is proposing to
provide education and outreach on Fair Housing laws and regulations
with special emphasis on accessibility requirements and the rights
of people with disabilities, the deaf and the elderly, in addition
to all protected classes. One of their main goals is to increase
the understanding of fair housing laws and procedures for filing
complaints. VCIL plans to conduct public awareness campaigns targeted
to consumers and those in the housing industry. During this 1-year
initiative, fair housing informational material will be disseminated,
three videos will be produced on the fair housing law for use on
cable TV in the Bennington, Brattleboro, Montpelier, Burlington
and Rutland areas of Vermont, and new accessibility training modules
will be developed for housing providers and those in adjunct professions.
Virginia
Charlottesville
Piedmont Housing Alliance - $62,559.19
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
Piedmont Housing Alliance ("the Alliance") is a regional
organization dedicated to improving the lives of low- and moderate-income
families and individuals by creating housing and community development
opportunities throughout the Thomas Jefferson Planning District
in Virginia. The Alliance actively supports and seeks to affirmatively
further fair housing through a comprehensive and coordinated education
and outreach campaign to ensure open and equal housing choice and
empowerment for all households in the region, regardless of race,
color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, or disability.
The Alliance will conduct educational trainings, seminars, and special
events to raise public awareness about housing discrimination and
fair housing rights.
Newport
News
Office of Human Affairs - $67,567.59
Education and Outreach Initiative-Minority Home Ownership (EOI-HO)
The Office of Human Affairs, Inc., (OHA) has operated a Fair Housing
Office under its Housing Services division since 1985, providing
fair housing and minority homeownership education and outreach activities
in the Newport News, Virginia geographic area, Planning District
I. OHA will provide monthly first-homeownership seminars, develop
and implement a marketing and media awareness plan for fair housing
and homeownership classes, conduct a National Fair Housing Month
forum mobilizing local media to support the event, and provide education
seminars on fair housing to the public, apartment managers, landlords,
mortgagers, lenders, and large employers..
Washington
Tacoma
Fair Housing Center of South Puget Sound - $80,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)
The Fair Housing Center of South Puget Sound (Fair Housing Center)
will focus on new immigrants, for whom English is not their first
language, and the organizations that serve them. The Fair Housing
Center will conduct the following activities: partner with community
and technical colleges to expand distribution of existing fair housing-based
ESL curriculum to the region; contract with the Fair Housing Council
of Oregon, Idaho Fair Housing Council and Northwest Fair Housing
Alliance to form a fair housing agency link with ESL classes; partner
with regional authorities (Tacoma Housing Authority, King County
Housing Authority, King County Office of Civil Rights, Homeownership
Center of Tacoma) to promote fair housing and homeownership in ESL
classes; and manage the Fair Housing and Immigrant Roundtable (FAIR)
in Washington State to focus on sharing information about housing
rights and homeownership opportunities.
Wisconsin
Milwaukee
Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council - $206,489.79
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
The Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council (MMFHC) conducts statewide
enforcement activities to identify and eliminate discriminatory housing
practices in primarily nine Wisconsin counties (Milwaukee, Waukesha,
Washington and Ozaukee, Dane County, Brown, Calumet, Outagamie and
Winnebago). Over the 18-month grant period, MMFHC will investigate
newly constructed multi-family dwellings to ensure housing accessibility
for persons with disabilities, receive and investigate complaints
of predatory lending practices, investigate rental discrimination
against Hispanics and African Americans, expand enforcement services,
and refer complaints to HUD. Underserved populations and communities
in Wisconsin will be the beneficiaries of this project, which will
further strengthen HUD's goals and priorities.
|
![[Logo: Homes and Communities: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development]](/images/common/hgv-bnr-logo2.gif){kind=logo}
![[Vea la versión en español de esta página]](/images/common/hgv-bnr-espanol2.gif)
![[Contact Us]](/images/common/hgv-bnr-contactus.gif)
![[Display the text version of this page]](/images/common/hgv-bnr-text.gif)
![[Search/Index]](/images/common/hgv-bnr-search.gif)
![[The U.S. government's official web portal]](/images/common/hgv-tpc-usagov.gif){kind=small}
![[logo: Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity]](/images/common/hgv-icn-fheo.gif){kind=small}
![[Logo: HUD seal]](/images/common/hgv-icn-seal.gif)