2007 Fair Housing Month Events in the Southeast

April 2007 is the 39th annual celebration of the enactment of the Fair Housing Act of 1968. The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has scheduled activities throughout the Southeast region. These events will be held to honor the strides made to ensure all Americans have equal access to housing free from discrimination in the 39 years since the Act was signed. HUD maintains a toll free number for people who believe they are a victim of housing discrimination - 1 (800) 440-8091. Visit our Fair Housing homepage for more information on housing discrimination.

• On March 26-28, in Franklin, TN, Quad State Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Conference: FHEO Region IV Director James Sutton of HUD's Atlanta office will be the keynote speaker at the Quad State Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Conference. The conference was established fifteen years ago with the purpose of bringing together civil rights practitioners and advocates related to housing equality, economic opportunity, diversity and inclusion and civil rights. The conference is always held in either Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina or South Carolina. The Tennessee Human Rights Commission, a FHAP agency, is this year's host agency of the Quad-State Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Conference. The conference will take place March 26-28, 2007 at the Marriott Cool Springs in Franklin, TN.



• On April 2, in Louisville, KY, Louisville FHEO Center Director Vicki Ray of HUD's Louisville office will attend and participate in a "Don't Borrow Trouble" (DBT) campaign and National Fair Housing Month kick-off. The event is sponsored by the Metro Louisville DBT Coalition in conjunction with the Metro Louisville Government. The DBT campaign is a public education initiative aimed at stopping predatory lending practices in the Commonwealth. The campaign, administered by The Housing Partnership, Inc. (Louisville) and the Kentucky Housing Corporation (statewide), is supported by a coalition of partner organizations that include nonprofit housing groups, government agencies, financial institutions, housing and homeownership counseling organizations, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The campaign seeks to educate families and individuals about how to avoid predatory lending scams and about available community resources.



• On April 4, in Atlanta, GA, FHEO Region IV Director, James N. Sutton, Atlanta FHEO Center Director, and Brenda Sue Shavers of HUD's Atlanta office will kick off Fair Housing Month by hosting a Fair Housing "FAIR" at the HUD building. The FAIR will include games and activities to enhance and test attendees' knowledge of fair housing. The games played at the FAIR will include popular games such as BINGO, Fair Housing Feud and Wheel of Fortune adapted to a fair housing theme.



• On April 4, in Frankfort, KY, Louisville FHEO Center Director Vicki Ray of HUD's Louisville office will conduct the Annual Fair Housing training for the Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC) staff. Ms. Ray will conduct the training with Toni Smith, KHC's Fair Housing Training and Outreach Coordinator, and Art Crosby, Executive Director of the Lexington Fair Housing Council (Fair Housing Initiative Program recipient). The training will focus on disability rights laws, with special emphasis on reasonable accommodations and modifications.



• On April 5,in Miami, FL, Debra Bouziden, FHEO Enforcement Branch Chief of HUD's Miami Field office will conduct Fair Housing training at the request of the Florida Southeast Chapter of Registered Apartment Managers. Ms. Bouziden presentation will consist of speaking on the fair housing act and other fair housing issues.



• On April 7, in Birmingham, AL, FHEO Director Ralph Logan of HUD's Birmingham Office will attend and speak on fair housing laws at a Fair Housing Month Homebuyers Education Seminar sponsored by the Birmingham Chapter of the National Urban League. The purpose of the seminar is to educate first time homebuyers about fair housing laws and issues. Representatives from The Southern Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) have been invited.



• On April 10, in Lexington, KY, Louisville FHEO Center Director Vicki Ray of HUD's Louisville office will attend the Annual Fair Housing Luncheon sponsored by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission, a Fair Housing Assistance Program grantee. Ms. Ray will provide a fair housing update at the luncheon.



• On April 10, in Huntsville, AL, Assistant Secretary Kim Kendricks will be the keynote speaker at the National Fair Housing Month Luncheon. The event is sponsored by the Fair Housing Center of Northern Alabama from Birmingham, AL, a FHIP grantee and the Huntsville Association of Realtors.



• On April 11, in Jacksonville, FL, FHEO Acting Director Nancy Rivera-Wright and Equal Opportunity Assistant Dianne Roberts of HUD's Jacksonville Office will conduct a workshop on the Affirmative Fair Housing Marking Plan approval process during the Southeastern Affordable Housing Management Association's (SAHMA) 2007 Florida State Meeting. This session will involve management and staff of HUD-subsidized multifamily properties.



• On April 11, in Birmingham, AL, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Karen Newton will be the keynote speaker at the National Fair Housing Month Seminar and Luncheon sponsored by the Fair Housing Center of Northern AL, a FHIP grantee. FHEO Director Ralph Logan, of HUD's Birmingham Field office will bring greetings for the morning session and FHEO staff members will serve as resource people for all workshop sessions. The Workshop sessions will focus on Predatory Lending, Reasonable Accommodation/Design and Construction, Fair Housing In An Increasingly Diverse Community and Dealing with Client Preferences.



• On April 11, in Atlanta, GA, FHEO Center Director, Brenda Sue Shavers of HUD's Atlanta office will serve as keynote speaker at a Fair Housing Program for the Fulton County Department of Housing and Community Development. This Department administers the HUD funded programs for Fulton County. These programs include the CDBG, HOME and Homeless programs. The audience will include Fulton County employees, as well as other invited attendees.



• On April 12, in Greenville, SC, FHEO Acting Director Pat Green of HUD's Columbia office will be the keynote speaker for the Greater Greenville Human Relations Commission's Annual Fair Housing Luncheon. The Luncheon is presented to housing advocacy groups in the Greenville area who provide housing services to low and moderate- income residents.



• On April 12, in Montgomery, AL, FHEO Director Ralph Logan of HUD's Birmingham Office will attend the National Fair Housing Month Program sponsored by the Central Alabama Fair Housing Center of Montgomery, AL. The event will consist of workshops on the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 and Predatory Lending. Mr. Logan will provide opening remarks and serve as a resource person at the event.



• On April 12, in Macon, GA, FHEO Equal Opportunity Specialists, Dominique Slaughter and Kirk Ashmeade of HUD's Atlanta office will conduct fair housing workshops at the 2007 Fair Housing Symposium to be held in Macon. The symposium organizers are the City of Macon and the Macon Middle Georgia Housing Counseling Center. The two workshops are entitled: "Fair Housing and You" and "Developing and Implementing a Fair Housing Program."



• On April 14, in Atlanta, GA, FHEO has scheduled a fair housing program at the Mt. Nebo Baptist Church and Life Center. The program's objective is to highlight Fair Housing Month and educate attendees about their fair housing rights and to provide them with information on housing opportunities in the community. Presenters include James N. Sutton, Region IV FHEO Director; Brenda Sue Shavers, Atlanta FHEO Center Director, representatives from other HUD program offices, the local FHAP and representatives from Housing Counseling Agencies. There may also be representatives from the real estate and banking industries. After the presentations, the attendees will be able to speak one on one with the presenters and other representatives.



• On April 19, in Chattanooga, TN, FHEO Region IV Director James Sutton of HUD's Atlanta office will be the keynote speaker during Fair Housing Luncheon sponsored by the City of Chattanooga, in collaboration with the Chattanooga Association of Realtors and the Chattanooga Apartment Association. The event will be held at the Chattanooga Choo Choo on Market Street.



• On April 19 in Birmingham, AL, The Jefferson County Assisted Housing Corporation (JCAHC) will host a workshop in honor of National Fair Housing Month addressing the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988. FHEO Director Ralph Logan of HUD's Birmingham Office will speak on the fair housing laws. Participants will include persons working with the subsidized housing program throughout the state.



• On April 20, in Knoxville, TN, Lead Equal Opportunity Specialist David King of the Knoxville office will make a presentation on fair housing and reasonable accommodation during the Annual Knoxville Fair Housing Conference. The event is sponsored by the Equality Coalition for Housing Opportunity, City of Knoxville, Knox County, Tennessee Human Rights Commission, and several other agencies. The event will be held at Rothschild's Conference Center.



• On April 20,in Miami, FL, Candace M. Tapscott, FHEO Miami Center Director of HUD's Miami Field office will present the "occasion remarks", at the H.O.P.E., Inc. Workshop and Luncheon. The event will not only commemorate the 39 Anniversary of the passage of the Fair Housing Act, but it will also highlight the life and accomplishments of the retiring Executive Director Bill Thompson.



• On April 23-25, in Birmingham, AL, FHEO Director Ralph Logan and Equal Opportunity Specialist Carrie Saunders of HUD's Birmingham Field office will serve as technical resource advisers at the 25th Annual Southeastern Affordable Housing Management Association (SAHMA) Conference at the Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham. The event will consists of workshops on the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, Disability Requirements, Section 504 and Addendum B. SAHMA represents owners and managers of privately owned, government-assisted housing throughout the Southeast.



• On April 25, in Falls of Rough, KY, Equal Opportunity Specialist Michele Roundtree of HUD's Louisville office will conduct a fair housing workshop for Homeland, Inc., a Multifamily management company. The workshop will provide an overview of the Fair Housing Act and disability rights laws for on-site managers and maintenance staff.



• On April 25, in Panama City, FL, FHEO Acting Director Nancy Rivera-Wright of HUD's Jacksonville Office will conduct two fair housing training sessions during the Bay County Multi-Housing Association's National Fair Housing Month meeting. This sessions will involve management and staff of 100% market rent and HUD-subsidized multifamily properties.



• On April 25, in Broward County, FL, Kelsey Harlow, FHEO Equal Opportunity Specialist of HUD's Miami Field office will serve as the Fair Housing Month speaker for the Broward County Housing Community Development Task force. Ms. Harlow will speak on Equal Opportunity Partnerships: Being Pro-active and Compliant.



• On April 25-26, in Jacksonville, FL, Equal Opportunity Specialist Sherry Norton of HUD's Jacksonville Office will speak upon HUD's Fair Housing Month's theme and conduct a workshop for public housing authorities in Northern Florida. The fair housing session of the workshop, sponsored by the Jacksonville Office of Public Housing, will focus on the civil rights requirements of public housing authorities.



• On April 26, in Columbia, SC, FHEO Acting Director Pat Green of HUD's Columbia office will bring greetings from the Department at the Annual Fair Housing Poster Contest. The Contest is sponsored by the Greater Columbia Community Relations Council and presented to students in a four-county area: Richland, Lexington, Fairfield and Newberry Counties. Students in kindergarten through 9th grades have drawn posters, which depict the National Fair Housing Theme. A panel of judges, who are art students from local colleges and universities, will rate the posters and award prizes and awards to each student who participates.



• On April 26, in Mobile, AL, The Center for Fair Housing will present a workshop entitled "Fair Housing Design and Construction & Accessibility Workshop" in honor of National Fair Housing Month. Participants will include city and county officials and staff, social service organizations, attorneys, realtors, developers, builders, property managers, architects, persons with disabilities, and the general public. FHEO Director, Ralph Logan of HUD's Birmingham Field office will represent Region IV's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.



• On April 26, in Miami, FL, Candace Tapscott, FHEO Miami Center Director and staff of HUD's Miami Field office along with Multifamily and FPM will jointly sponsor Fair Housing Training for Multifamily Recipients of federal funding. Miami FHEO staff will provide training on the Fair Housing Act, Section 504, and Section 3 Training responsibilities.



• On April 26-27, in Memphis, TN, Equal Opportunity Specialist, Richard Redmon, HUD's Memphis Office will provide a fair housing update at the 7th Annual Memphis Fair Housing Conference, sponsored by the Fair Housing Alliance of Greater Memphis, the Tennessee Human Rights Commission, the City of Memphis, Shelby County, TN and several other local partners and agencies. The day and a half event will take place at the Cook County Convention Center in downtown Memphis.



• On April 27, in Nashville, TN, Lead EOS, H. David King, HUD's Knoxville Office will participate in The Tennessee Fair Housing Matters Conference, sponsored by the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA), Tennessee Fair Housing Council, Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA), and Tennessee Human Rights Commission. Assistant Secretary Kim Kendrick has been invited to be the luncheon speaker for this event and it will take place at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville.



• On April 27, in Miami, FL, Candace M. Tapscott, FHEO Miami Center Director of HUD's Miami Field office will speak on Section 3 "the FHEO perspective" at the PIH / Miami Dade Housing Agency joint Section 3 training.



• On April 27, in Broward County, FL, Candace M. Tapscott, FHEO Miami Center Director of HUD's Miami Field office will present the "occasion remarks", for the Broward County, Fair Housing Commemoration. The celebration is schedule to occur at the African American Library.



• On April 28, in Columbia, SC, FHEO Acting Director Pat Green of HUD's Columbia Office will bring greetings from the Department at the Housing Fair for the Greater Columbia Community Relations Council. The Fair is an annual event for the midlands community to disseminate information to residents on homeownership opportunities, housing discrimination and lending services. The Fair is expected to generate great interest in the Batesburg community.



• On April 28, in Atlanta, GA, FHEO has scheduled a fair housing program at the Greater Traveler's Rest Baptist Church. The program's objective is to highlight Fair Housing Month and educate attendees about their fair housing rights and to provide them with information on housing opportunities in the community. Presenters include James N. Sutton, Region IV FHEO Director, and representatives from other HUD program offices, the local FHAP and representatives from Housing Counseling Agencies. There may also be representatives from the real estate and banking industries. After the presentations, the attendees will be able to speak one on one with the presenters and other representatives.