Virtual Moving to Higher Opportunity Summit

Exploring Options and Opportunities for Housing Mobility

Providing ladders of opportunity for low-income families to reach the middle class is an important goal of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). One way is by helping assisted housing residents obtain rental housing outside areas of poverty or minority concentration, by moving them into areas of higher opportunity. To raise awareness of the benefits of housing mobility for low-income individuals and families, HUD's Region III Regional Office and its partners and stakeholders convened a Moving to Higher Opportunity Summit: Exploring Options and Opportunities for Housing Mobility. The day-long free event attracted nationally-recognized experts as speakers and nearly 300 attendees from as far north as Vermont, as far south as North Carolina and as far west as Illinois.

An Introduction to the Virtual Moving to Higher Opportunity Summit
HUD's Region III Regional Administrator Jane C.W. Vincent sets the stage for the new Virtual Moving to Higher Opportunity Summit.
     Agenda
     Biographies of Speakers

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ToLWvaLtXU&feature=youtu.be)

Session #1: Changing the Way We Do Housing
Douglas S. Massey
Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs, Princeton University
Using Mt. Laurel, New Jersey as a case study, Dr. Massey explored several ways to approach mobility—the enforcement of the Fair Housing Act, utilizing Housing Choice Vouchers and constructing public housing in mixed-income communities. VIEW VIDEO (http://youtu.be/kG3VGdjxX4w)
     Presentation
     Suggested Reading
          Learning from Mount Laurel
          Lessons from Suburbia Pathways
          Segregation in Post-Civil Rights America

Session #2: Challenges in Finding Housing
This session focused on the benefits and challenges of providing families with access to housing in areas of higher opportunity. VIEW VIDEO (http://youtu.be/B1UFGeUrlC0)
Moderator
Theresa Y. Singleton
Vice President and Community Affairs Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Panelists
Mary E. Bell
Manager, Demographic and Economic Analysis, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC)
     Presentation
David Rusk
Founding President, Building One America
     Presentation
     Suggested Reading
          Housing Policy is School Policy: a commentary
          Housing Policy Is School Policy
          Red Zone/Green Zone Designation
Philip M.E. Garboden, MPP
Doctoral Student in Sociology, Johns Hopkins University
     Presentation
Jennifer Lee O'Neil
Director, Quadel Consulting Corporation
     Presentation
     Suggested Reading
          PRRAC Expanding Choice

Session #3: Regional Perspectives on Regional Fair Housing
Local leaders involved in regional planning initiatives discussed the value of regional fair housing in achieving inclusion, regional sustainability and economic growth. VIEW VIDEO (http://youtu.be/6hrBzZ2UuX0)
Moderator
Salin Geevarghese
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Panelists
Ron Williams
School Board Director, Pottstown School District, PA
Sandra B. Mordecai
Certificated School Board Member, West Orange Board of Education & Interim Vice President of the New Jersey School Boards Association, Essex County Chapter, West Orange, NJ
Rev. Nathaniel Goodson, Jr.
Pastor, Prayer Chapel Church of God in Christ and former Upper Darby Township Councilman (2005-2013), Upper Darby, PA
Ed Pawlowski
Mayor, City of Allentown, PA
Marlon Millner
Councilman-At-Large, City of Norristown, PA
Kirby A. Hudson
City Manager, City of Coatesville, PA
Jerry Fried
Former Mayor, City of Montclair, NJ

Session #4: Mobility Programs
This session explored the results-oriented approach of two current programs: a Quadel-managed special Housing Choice Voucher mobility program in Baltimore and the Housing Choice Partners of Illinois, Inc. program designed to promote racial and economic diversity in the six-county Chicago region. VIEW VIDEO (http://youtu.be/HtwD9EPJlyw)
Moderator
Kelvin A. Jeremiah
President and Chief Executive Officer, Philadelphia Housing Authority

Panelists
Maurice Gadsden
Housing Counselor, Metropolitan Baltimore Quadel
     Presentation
Christine Klepper
Executive Director, Housing Choice Partners of Illinois, Inc.
     Presentation
Barbara Sard
Director of Housing Policy, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
     Presentation

Session #5: Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing
This session explained the recent reemergence of the strong anti-segregation mandate in the 1968 Fair Housing Act, and how it is changing the way state and local agencies administer federal housing programs. VIEW VIDEO (http://youtu.be/mZ6vmjW0QtM)
Moderator
Ed Geiger
Director, State of Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development

Panelists
Sara K. Pratt
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement Programs, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Philip Tegeler
Executive Director, Poverty & Race Research Action Council

Closing Remarks
Sandra Henriquez
Assistant Secretary for Public & Indian Housing, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Proposed next steps to create opportunities for individuals and families to move into the middle class through housing mobility. VIEW VIDEO (http://youtu.be/jfzqjCygNU4)

Thank you for taking advantage of the Virtual Moving to Higher Opportunity Summit. On behalf of the Summit Steering Committee, I would like to acknowledge all of the good work that was done by everyone involved in hosting the original Summit and for providing such good information for us to build this Virtual Summit website. If anything, the collaboration and event encouraged all of us to be even more committed to engaging a wide-range of interested parties who are involved in fair housing, health, transportation, housing, education and economic opportunity issues for low-income individuals and families in building awareness of the positive benefits of housing mobility.

For all who attended our original Summit and for those who have taken advantage of this online Virtual Summit, we'd like to thank each and every one of you for your enthusiasm and participation to date, and look forward to more good work together in the future.

Jane C.W. Vincent
Region III Regional Administrator

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