Ohio Fair Housing Month Events

Assistant Secretary Peoples, pictured third from the left, with (left to right) Nurmal Sinah, OCRC Commissioner, Arron Wheeler, Commission Chairperson, Michael Peyton, Executive Director of OCRC and Carolyn Murphy, Director of HUD's Columbus Fair Housing Center.

Assistant Secretary for FH&EO Carolyn Peoples was the keynote speaker at the Annual Fair Housing Conference sponsored by the Ohio Civil Rights Commission (OCRC). Over 200 representatives from state and local fair housing agencies, advocacy groups and housing partners attended the conference in Columbus on March 31, 2003. HUD staff from Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity participated in training sessions. Mrs. Peoples met with Thomas Leach, Field Office Director, Columbus Field Office and HUD Fair Housing staff from Ohio and Indiana. During her address, she talked about HUD Fair Housing Initiatives and Secretary Martinez' priority to increase minority homeownership by 5 ½ million families.

On April 12, HUD participated in the 6th Annual Minority Homeownership Expo in Columbus, Ohio. Several hundred families attended this annual event, where they received information, technical assistance, training, housing counseling support, and lender advice from dozens of local housing industry and support organizations. The Columbus Urban League sponsored the event at the King Arts Complex.

HUD will be participating in the Sixth Annual Northeast Ohio Fair Housing Alliance (NOFHA) Awards Luncheon on April 24th. This event provides information to Section 8 providers on furthering fair housing goals, along with information on research and policy regarding the impact of Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers in urban neighborhoods. The awards session honors three local individuals or groups, who are not primarily involved in fair housing, but who have contributed substantially toward fair housing. The keynote luncheon speaker will be David Enzel, FH&EO's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Programs.

Michael Shifrin, former HUD Enforcement Branch Chief in the FHEO Columbus Office will be presented the State of Ohio's Fair Housing Award at the Ohio Conference of Community Development Spring Conference on April 24th and 25th in Columbus, Ohio.

On April 11, 2003, Doug Shelby, Field Office Director of the Cleveland Field Office participated in a Fair Housing Seminar hosted by the City of Youngstown's Fair Housing Department. Mr. Shelby brought brief remarks about the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and the role the Department plays in enforcing the Act. He also spoke about Secretary Martinez' plan to increase minority homeownership by 5.5 million by the end of the decade. The keynote speaker was probably America's best-known Fair Housing Lawyer and Advocate, Avery Friedman. The event was quite educational.