HUD AWARDS $17.6 MILLION IN GRANTS TO HELP FIGHT HOUSING DISCRIMINATION
$733,000 to Five Florida Agencies

ST. PETERSBURG - On Thursday, October 7, 2004, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson awarded $17.6 million in grants to 106 groups to help them fight housing discrimination. Today, November 29, 2004,
in a ceremony held at the Boley Centers for Behavioral Healthcare in St. Petersburg, HUD presented checks totaling $733,000 to the five successful recipients in Florida.

The grants, funded under HUD's Fair Housing Initiatives Program, will go to public and private fair housing groups and state and local agencies across the country. These groups will use the funds to investigate allegations of housing discrimination, educate the housing industry and public about housing discrimination laws, and work to promote fair housing.

Across the Country, the grants are allocated as follows:

• Private Enforcement Initiative - About $11.8 million was awarded for 12 to18 month grants of up to
  $220,000 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 - About $3.7 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. About $500,000 of the grant money, which went to seven groups, is specifically going to
  programs that have a special focus on the fair housing needs of persons with disabilities, so that housing
  providers, the general public, and persons with disabilities themselves better understand their rights and
  obligations.
  
  
• Fair Housing Organizations Initiative - About $2.1 million was awarded for three-year grants of about
  $1 million for projects that serve rural and immigrant populations in areas where there currently is no
  existing fair housing organization, or are otherwise under-served.

In Florida the grant recipients include:

Daytona Beach

Education and Outreach Initiative/Homeownership Component - Mid-Florida Housing Partnership, Inc. $50,000

The Mid-Florida Housing Partnership (MFHP) will partner with Bethune Cookman College to provide education and outreach about the rights and responsibilities of fair housing laws with special emphasis on increasing minority homeownership. The partnership will train students at the college on fair housing laws and first-time homebuyer programs. In turn, students will conduct education and outreach activities at minority churches. MFHP will focus its efforts on providing accessibility workshops to builders and architects and teaching predatory lending practices in
its first-time homebuyer education classes. The project aims to facilitate the first-time purchase of homes for very low-, low-, and moderate-income families in Volusia and Flagler counties.

Jacksonville

Private Enforcement Initiative - Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Inc. $219,868

Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Inc. (JALA) will continue serving the greater Jacksonville/Duval County area to break
down barriers of housing discrimination in this highly segregated region. Services will be targeted to persons with disabilities, racial and ethnic minorities, persons who speak English as a second language, immigrants, and other protected groups. JALA will aim to ensure equal opportunity in housing to protected classes, coordinate with faith-based organizations to implement HUD programs, and encourage agencies that work with minorities to participate in HUD programs. Specifically, this project will provide fair housing enforcement training to 30 staff, volunteers, and board members and will conduct education and outreach in six counties. Expected outcomes include increased homeownership opportunities, improved accessibility in design and construction, and eradication of homelessness within 10 years.

Miami

Private Enforcement Initiative - Housing Opportunities Project for Excellence, Inc. $220,000

Housing Opportunities Project for Excellence (HOPE) will continue providing fair housing services in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. HOPE will intake and process 250 fair housing complaints; recruit and train 50 testers; conduct
75 rental tests, 25 sales tests, 25 lending tests, and 75 accessibility tests; facilitate mediation of 5 fair housing disputes; and refer 25 enforcement proposals to HUD, private attorneys, and other administrative agencies. HOPE's services will continue to educate and address the fair housing needs of protected classes and low-income residents, including special issues faced by immigrant populations.

St. Petersburg

Education and Outreach Initiative/Disability Component Boley Centers for Behavioral Healthcare. $90,922

The Boley Centers for Behavioral Health Care (Boley) provide education and outreach services to individuals with disabilities. This 12-month project will serve 400 Pinellas County residents, by offering them client-specific
workshops, for example, ones targeted to individuals with mental illness or visual impairments, along with information dissemination about enforcement rights and fair housing laws. Reading level-appropriate material and a web site will
be developed under the leadership of staff that has served the agency for more than 25 years. With partners including the Watson Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired and Gulf Coast Jewish Family Services, Inc., Boley
will oversee several activities, for example, complaint referrals and tester training.

Tampa

Private Enforcement Initiative Bay Area Legal Services, Inc. $152,701.60

Bay Area Legal Services, Inc. will engage in a variety of outreach, educational, and training activities in efforts to enforce fair housing laws and to promote the availability of affordable housing on behalf of housing discrimination victims in Tampa and Hillsborough counties. The organization will achieve this through various activities, such as: recruiting and training 20 testers to conduct rental and lending tests; providing fair housing enforcement training to 30 staff persons, volunteers, and board members; offering education about fair housing rights to protected classes and underserved populations; and working with grassroots, faith-based, and other community-based organizations
in HUD programs. Efforts will be targeted to underserved populations, including persons with disabilities, racial and ethnic minorities, and persons with limited English proficiency.

The 106 winners were chosen based on the soundness of approach, the extent of the problem, the capacity and experience of the applicant, demonstration of results, program evaluation, and the leveraging of other resources.

Additionally, some of the grants will address sophisticated and subtle forms of discrimination through paired testing
as well as other investigative tools. HUD gave special emphasis to grant applications that target under-served populations, such as rural residents and immigrants, especially non-English speaking racial and ethnic minorities.

The Fair Housing Act bars housing discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, disability, family status
and national origin. The Act covers the sale, rental, financing and advertising of almost all housing in the nation.
Fair housing investigations are conducted by HUD investigators, state and city agencies working with HUD, and private fair housing groups that receive HUD funds.

Anyone who believes they have experienced housing discrimination is asked to call HUD's Housing Discrimination Hotline at 1-800-669-9777, TDD 1-800-927-9275.

HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing homeownership, particularly among minorities;
creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development as well as enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet and espanol.hud.gov.

NOTE: A list and descriptions of all grants are on the HUD website.

Below is a breakdown of funding to groups in the following locations: Note - Florida applicants placed sixth out of
forty four.

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