HUD Regional Administrator Speaks at 10th Annual Housing Conference at Fort Valley, Georgia

Edward Jennings, Jr. HUD SE Regional Administrator, Dr. Mark Latimore, Jr.-Interim Dean for the College of Agriculture, Family Sciences and Technology, Keishon J. Thomas-Extension Housing Specialist, Fort Valley State University Cooperative Extension Program and Dr. Ivelow L. Griffith, President, Fort Valley State University Attribution "Fort valley State University Public Information Office"

HUD Southeast Regional Administrator Ed Jennings, Jr. was the keynote speaker recently during the 10th Annual Housing Conference at Fort Valley State University, Fort Valley, Georgia just over a hundred miles south east of Atlanta. Over 150 local and community leaders and academics listened to Jennings as he spoke on housing for seniors and aging in place. Fort Valley Mayor Barbara Williams (http://review.fvsu.edu/content/fvsu-alumni-spotlight-fort-valley-mayor-barbara-b-williams) and Fort Valley State University President Dr. Ivelow Lloyd Griffith
(www.fvsu.edu/about_fvsu/presidents_office) also participated in the all-day event which was entitled, "Seniors, the New Majority".

"Each year I am impressed by the focus on housing issues that this conference addresses and that significantly impacts those we mutually serve in Georgia," said Jennings. "This conference is going on its tenth year and we are proud to support the university's commitment to partner and contribute to improving life for seniors in the community and throughout the state."

Later in the day Dr. Joe Leonard, Jr. Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (www.ascr.usda.gov/about_cr_joe_leonard.html), US Department of Agriculture also spoke on the impact that the growing number of senior are and will have in our country.

HUD SE Regional Administrator Jennings keynote speaker addresses the audience at 10th Annual Housing Conference Attribution "Fort valley State University Public Information Office"

The conference was held in the C.T Pettigrew Community Life Center on campus and presentations were conducted on reverse mortgages, raising awareness of disabilities, assistive technologies, neglect and exploitation of the elderly, senior population boom in rural America, senior consumer protection, healthcare directive, Medicare 101 and senior caregiving.

Fort Valley State University (www2.fvsu.edu/) is one of Georgia's three public historically black colleges and universities.

Located in Fort Valley, Ga., (the seat of Peach County) the institution has educated students for more than a hundred years and remains Georgia's only 1890 land-grant school.

###