WASHINGTON - Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel Martinez today awarded $14.2 million in grants to groups in 73 cities to help them fight housing discrimination.

The grants, funded under HUD's Fair Housing Initiatives Program, will go to public and private fair housing groups and state and local agencies across the country. These groups will use the funds to investigate allegations of housing discrimination, educate the housing industry and public about housing discrimination laws, and work to promote fair housing.

"Today's announcement reinforces HUD's continued commitment to ensuring that communities across America are free of discrimination," said Martinez. "These grants will provide communities with a variety of education initiatives aimed at promoting fair housing."

• Private Enforcement Initiative - About $7.9 million was awarded for one-year grants of up to $250,000 to assist private, tax-exempt fair housing enforcement organizations in the investigation and enforcement of alleged violations of the Fair Housing Act and substantially equivalent State and local fair housing laws.
  
  
• Education and Outreach Initiative - About $4.8 million was allocated for one-year grants of up to $100,000 to inform and educate the public about the rights and obligations under federal, state and local fair housing laws. About $600,000 of the grant money, which went to seven groups, is specifically going to programs that have a special focus on the fair housing needs of persons with disabilities, so that housing providers, the general public, and persons with disabilities themselves better understand their rights and obligations.
  
  
• Fair Housing Organizations Initiative - About $1.5 million was awarded for three-year grants of about $1 million for projects that serve rural and immigrant populations in areas where there currently is no existing fair housing organization, or are otherwise under-served.
  
  Below is a breakdown of funding to groups in the following locations:
  
  

  Alabama - $97,956	Massachusetts - $439,120
  Arizona - $320,779	Michigan - $899,497
  Arkansas- $110,766	Minnesota - $360,000
  California - $785,659	Mississippi - $100,000
  Colorado - $335,114	Missouri - $590,121
  Connecticut - $200,028	New Jersey - $350,000
  Delaware - $189,125	New Mexico - $198,145
  District of Columbia - $350,000	Nevada - $100,000
  Florida - $548,719	New York - $1.3 million
  Georgia - $300,115	Ohio - $835,063
  Idaho - $100,000	Pennsylvania - $813,007
  Illinois - $1 million	Tennessee - $1.8 million
  Iowa - $95,563	Texas - $731,252
  Kansas - $293,484	Virginia - $13,500
  Kentucky - $195,789	Washington - $35,625
  Louisiana - $100,000	Wisconsin - $350,000
  Maryland - $139,850

  
  
  

Nearly 150 applicants were vying for the funding announced today. The 92 winners were chosen based on the soundness of approach, the extent of the problem, the capacity and experience of the applicant, coordination within the community and the leveraging of other resources.

Additionally, some of the grants will address sophisticated and subtle forms of discrimination through paired testing as well as other investigative tools. HUD gave special emphasis to grant applications that target under-served populations, such as rural residents and immigrants, especially non-English speaking racial and ethnic minorities.

The Fair Housing Act bars housing discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, disability, family status and national origin. The Act covers the sale, rental, financing and advertising of almost all housing in the nation. Fair housing investigations are conducted by HUD investigators, state and city agencies working with HUD, and private fair housing groups that receive HUD funds.

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NOTE: A list and descriptions of all grants are on the HUD website.

Anyone who believes they have experienced housing discrimination is asked to call HUD's Housing Discrimination Hotline at 1-800-669-9777.

They can also visit HUD's fair housing website.