BUSH ADMINISTRATION AWARDS $179,840 IN FAIR HOUSING GRANTS TO CONTINUE FIGHT AGAINST HOUSING BIAS IN NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque and Santa Fe Awarded Grants

FORT WORTH - The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today it has awarded $17.6 million in grants to fair housing groups in 39 states and the District of Columbia as part of the Bush Administration's efforts to curb housing discrimination. Organizations in Albuquerque and Santa Fe received a total of $179,840.

"Today's announcement is another step toward ensuring that Americans have equal access to safe and affordable housing," said HUD Acting Secretary Alphonso Jackson. "We will not allow discrimination to stop families across this nation from living in any home, apartment or neighborhood they can afford."

The grants were awarded today by HUD's Fair Housing Initiatives Program to groups that will use the funds to investigate allegations of housing discrimination, educate the public and housing industry about housing
discrimination laws, and work to promote fair housing.

Three types of grants were awarded to groups in 96 cities:

• Private Enforcement Initiative grants - About $10.2 million was awarded to assist private, tax-exempt fair
  housing enforcement organizations in the investigation and enforcement of alleged violations of the Fair
  Housing Act and State and local fair housing laws.
  
  
• Education and Outreach Initiative grants - About $5.3 million was allocated to groups to educate the public
  about the rights and obligations under federal, state and local fair housing laws. Nearly $800,000 went to
  ten groups that focus on the needs of persons with disabilities.
  
  
• Fair Housing Organizations Initiative grants - About $2.1 million was awarded for projects that serve rural
  and immigrant populations in underserved areas or where there currently is no existing fair housing
  organization.

In 2002, HUD released a study titled Discrimination in Metropolitan Housing Markets: Phase I, which documented
that despite a decline during the last decade, housing discrimination still exists at unacceptable levels. Last year, HUD, in partnership with The Advertising Council and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund, recently released an award-winning, edgy multimedia campaign designed to fight housing discrimination by showing the many faces of those persons protected by the nation's 35-year-old Fair Housing Act.

HUD received applications from 215 groups seeking grants for the fiscal year 2003 assistance. Grants were awarded
to 121 projects. A list of New Mexico grantees follows:

Albuquerque
Protection and Advocacy System - $100,000.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - Disability (EOI-D)

The Protection and Advocacy System of New Mexico will improve access to housing for underserved populations
in southern and central New Mexico, targeting persons with mental or physical disabilities, non-English speakers, recent immigrants, residents of the Colonias, the homeless, and the elderly. By collaborating with grassroots and faith-based organizations, at least two persons representing each of the target populations will receive training on federal, State and local fair housing laws and accessing enforcement processes.

Santa Fe
City of Santa Fe - $79,840.00
Education and Outreach Initiative - General (EOI-G)

The City of Santa Fe will continue its current fair housing project, Projyecta de Vivienda Dzgna, which addresses
the region's most significant impediment to fair housing - the lack of fair housing services. The grant will be used
to assist victims with HUD's process for filing a complaint and through referral to partner agencies for specific assistance. Activities will include ongoing training; continuing the distribution, updating, and creation of
informational materials; operating the Fair Housing Hotline; providing ongoing fair housing workshops for the general public, targeting audiences and Spanish-speakers; and providing bi-lingual homebuyer training and counseling.

Since the program's inception in 1989, nearly $226 million has been awarded nationally to some 1070 organizations. Twenty eight organizations selected for this year's awards are first-time applicants.

HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing homeownership, particularly among minorities, creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans, 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.

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