HUD Funds to Help Fight Housing Discrimination in Rockford Area

In the photo, from the left, Rockford Mayor, Doug Scott; Joseph Dailing, Executive Director of Prairie State Legal Services in Rockford, Joseph Galvan, and Marco Lenis, Executive Director of La Voza Latina in Rockford.

HUD Region V Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Hub Director Barbara M. Knox joined Mayor Scott and Regional Director Galvan after the presentation.

On Monday, November 29, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Midwest Regional Director Joseph P. Galvan announced a grant which will fund a program intended to fight housing discrimination in 35 Illinois counties. At a press conference in Rockford, a Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) grant of $80 thousand was presented in the form of an oversized check to Prairie State Legal Services, Inc.

The grant is part of $17.6 million awarded recently by HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson to 106 fair housing groups nationwide. The funds will help Prairie State expand its current education and outreach activities. Prairie State collaborates with community-based groups such as La Voza Latino (http://www.lavozlatina-rkfd.org) to reach diverse populations across its entire operating area. The funds will also be used to update the organization's website, and to pay for radio and television time to promote fair housing and raise public awareness concerning this issue. Established in 1977, Prairie State Legal Services (http://www.pslegal.org/index.htm) is a private, not-for-profit corporation that provides civil legal services to senior and low-income individuals and families in thirty-five counties in northern and central Illinois