NEVADA AND CALIFORNIA FAIR HOUSING GROUPS AWARDED $2.5 MILLION TO HELP FIGHT HOUSING DISCRIMINATION

SAN FRANCISCO - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today presented more than $2.5 million
to seven anti-discrimination organizations to conduct fair housing education and outreach in California and Nevada. Kim Kendrick, HUD's Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, made the grant presentations to
Bay Area Legal Aid, California Rural Legal Assistance, Fair Housing of Marin, Greater Napa Fair Housing Center, La
Raza Centro Legal, Project Sentinel, and the Silver State Fair Housing Council (see attached).

Last month, HUD awarded 88 grants totaling $17.1 million awarded to recipients in 37 states and the District of Columbia to help fight housing discrimination. In addition, HUD awarded $1 million to New America Media, a division
of Pacific News Service to develop the Department's first coordinated national media campaign to educate the
public about discriminatory lending.

"Last year there were a record 10,328 housing discrimination complaints filed with HUD and its state and local partners," said Kendrick. "These grants will allow us to continue with efforts to educate the public and the housing industry about their rights and responsibilities under the Fair Housing Act."

Kendrick added, "The national media campaign that we will develop is also very important. Without the campaign,
we believe that the consequences of discriminatory lending will not only continue, but may escalate."

The grants presented today are funded through HUD's Fair Housing Initiatives Program, will be used to investigate allegations of housing discrimination, educate the public and the housing industry about their rights and
responsibilities under the Fair Housing Act, and work to promote equal housing opportunities.

This year's grants were awarded under one of two initiatives:

• Private Enforcement Initiative grants (PEI) - HUD awarded $14 million to help groups investigate alleged housing discrimination, and enforce the Fair Housing Act and state and local laws that are substantially equivalent to the Act.
  
  
• Education and Outreach Initiative grants (EOI) - HUD awarded $3.1 million to groups that educate the public and housing providers about their rights and obligations under federal, state, and local fair housing
  laws.

FHEO and its partners in the Fair Housing Assistance Program investigate approximately 10,000 housing
discrimination complaints annually. People who believe they are the victims of housing discrimination should
contact HUD at (800) 669-9777 (voice), (800) 927-9275 (TTY). Additional information is available at www.hud.gov/fairhousing. Stay on top of the most up-to-date news regarding the Fair Housing Act by signing
up for the FHEO RSS Feed. A list of all the grant recipients is available on the HUD website.

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Summary of the Fair Housing Initiative Grants in California and Nevada

CALIFORNIA

Greater NAPA Fair Housing Center
Education and Outreach Initiative - General Component
Award Amount: $99,990

Greater Napa Fair Housing Center (GNFHC) will conduct an array of education and outreach activities to address segregated housing patterns and barriers to fair housing in Napa County, California. Specific activities, which will
be conducted in partnership with Napa County faith-based and grassroots organizations, will include fair housing workshops and fair housing counseling for linguistically isolated Hispanics and non-English speaking recent
immigrants, persons with disabilities, and the elderly. In addition to general fair housing education, workshops will
also cover predatory lending.

Bay Area Legal Aid (Oakland)
Private Enforcement Initiative - Performance Based Component
Award Amount: $275,000

Bay Area Legal Aid (BayLegal) will provide assistance to alleged housing discrimination victims by receiving and investigating complaints and attempting to negotiate resolutions to complaints. BayLegal will also refer complaints
to HUD or file complaints in federal or state courts. As part of its enforcement efforts, BayLegal will also recruit and train volunteers to conduct undercover tests for housing discrimination.

Project Sentinel (Palo Alto)
Private Enforcement Initiative - Performance Based Component
Award Amount: $270,000

Project Sentinel will conduct systemic fair housing investigations, including an investigation of predatory lending in Santa Clara County. Additionally, Project Sentinel will work with 28 community organizations to conduct education
and outreach activities for housing professionals, social service providers, immigrant groups, and the public.

California Rural Legal Assistance (San Francisco)
Private Enforcement Initiative - Performance Based Component
Award Amount: $275,000

California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) will receive and investigate housing discrimination complaints, refer
meritorious claims to HUD or the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, and conduct complaint-
based testing. In particular, CRLA's enforcement activities will focus on underserved rural agricultural communities, migrant and seasonal farm workers, recent immigrants and indigenous groups, and individuals with limited English proficiency.

Fair Housing of Marin (San Rafael)
Private Enforcement Initiative - Performance Based Component
Award Amount: $275,000

Fair Housing of Marin (FHOM) will conduct fair housing workshops, seminars, and conferences for residents of Marin, Contra Costa, Solano, and Sonoma counties, including those with disabilities. Specific topics to be covered will
include the Fair Housing Act and predatory lending. FHOM will also conduct fair housing tests on behalf of immigrant populations, and solicit fair housing complaints through bilingual newspapers, multi-lingual fair housing literature, and the Web. In addition, FHOM will conduct voice identification race audits to measure discrimination against blacks,
and distribute literature, examine ads, and investigate complaints to measure discrimination against any resident of the four counties.

The Fair Housing Council of Orange County, Inc. (Santa Ana)
Private Enforcement Initiative - General Component
Award Amount: $162,700

The Fair Housing Council of Orange County, Inc., (FHCOC) will expand its existing broad-based, full-service fair housing education, counseling and enforcement program to include conducting fair housing enforcement activities focused on the prevention of steering and discouraging discrimination in real estate brokerage services against immigrants with limited English proficiency and persons with disabilities. Additional activities will involve at least 40 paired on-site tests, 12 paired telephone tests, and 15 single tester accessibility tests.

NEVADA

Silver State Fair Housing Council (Reno)
Education and Outreach Initiative - General Component
Award Amount: $100,000

The Silver State Fair Housing Council (SSFHC) will expand a program of state-accredited training for real estate professionals and property managers in the rapidly growing counties of Las Vegas, Henderson, Pahrump, and
Mesquite. The SSFHC will also focus on working with members of the housing community who continue to fail to comply with fair housing accessibility requirements. In addition, SSFHC will develop and implement a program to educate military veterans about their fair housing rights.

Silver State Fair Housing Council (Reno)
Private Enforcement Initiative - Performance Based Component
Award Amount: $203,629

The Silver State Fair Housing Council will investigate housing discrimination complaints in Northern Nevada, with an emphasis on underserved and rural communities. Silver State will recruit and train testers, and conduct tests for rental discrimination both in-person and via the telephone. Silver State will also develop and maintain a tracking system for multifamily housing projects.