OHIO FAIR HOUSING GROUPS AWARDED $2.1 MILLION TO HELP FIGHT DISCRIMINATION

DAYTON, OHIO - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today presented over $2.1 million to six fair housing organizations to help fight housing discrimination in Ohio. John Trasviña, HUD's Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, made the grant presentations to the Fair Housing Opportunities Inc. dba Fair Housing Center, Fair Housing Resource Center, Inc., Housing Advocates, Inc., Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Cincinnati, Inc., Housing Research Advocacy Center, Miami Valley Fair Housing Center, and Fair Housing Contact Services (see attached).

Earlier this year, HUD awarded $26.3 million to 98 fair housing organizations and other non-profit agencies in 37 states and the District of Columbia to assist people who believe they have been victims of housing discrimination.

"In 2010, the fight for fair housing across America continues. The organizations we are funding are respected and trusted groups that emerged from a very competitive process," stated John Trasviña, HUD's Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing Equal Opportunity. "They will help HUD enforce the law and educate the public about their rights and responsibilities under the law."

The grants announced today are funded through HUD's Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) and will be used to investigate allegations of housing discrimination, educate the public and the housing industry about their rights and responsibilities under the Fair Housing Act, and work to promote equal housing opportunities. The categories grants were awarded in are:

• Private Enforcement Initiative grants (PEI) - HUD awarded $21.1 million to help groups investigate alleged housing discrimination, and enforce the Fair Housing Act and state and local laws that are substantially equivalent to the Act.
• Education and Outreach Initiative grants (EOI) - HUD awarded $3.1 million to groups that educate the public and housing providers about their rights and obligations under federal, state, and local fair housing laws.
• Fair Housing Organizations Initiative (FHOI) - HUD awarded $2.1 million to groups that serve rural and immigrant populations in areas where there currently is no existing fair housing organization, or are otherwise underserved.

A list of all grant recipients is listed on HUD's website.

FHEO and its partners in the Fair Housing Assistance Program investigate approximately 10,000 housing discrimination complaints annually. People who believe they are the victims of housing discrimination should contact HUD at (800) 669-9777 (voice), (800) 927-9275 (TTY). Additional information is available at http://www.hud.gov/fairhousing. Stay on top of the most up-to-date news regarding the Fair Housing Act by signing up for the FHEO RSS Feed.

Summary of the Fair Housing Initiative Grants in Ohio (Fiscal Year 2009)

Fair Housing Contact Services
Akron
Private Enforcement Initiative - $275,000
Fair Housing Contact Services will use its grant to conduct fair housing enforcement activities throughout Summit, Start, Portage, Medina, and Tuscarawas Counties in Northeastern, Ohio. Activities will also include the following: increase language access to present services for deaf and partially deaf clients, as well as LEP individuals, through translation services; conduct fair housing investigations to include rental, internet, and accessibility testing; hold a fair housing accessibility training as part of other trainings to be collaborated with its state FHAP agency [Ohio Civil Rights Commission]; onsite monitoring and investigations of prior fair housing complaints; and assist clients with disabilities with obtaining reasonable accommodations.

The Housing Advocates, Inc. (HAI)
Akron
Private Enforcement Initiative - $275,000
Housing Advocates, Inc., will use its grant to conduct a series of fair housing enforcement activities in Cuyahoga, Geauga, Portage, Stark, Summit, and the 10 surrounding Columbus counties. Activities will include: a 2-prong approach to predatory lending enforcement, assisting 100 callers per year and litigating a minimum of 20; combating disability and accessibility issues through a continued Land Use Study and Real Accessibility Now project; reviewing and assessing Tenant Selection Plans of Public Housing Authorities to determine inconsistencies and possible discrimination; linguistic profiling phone tests based on sex; and outreach and education to all protected classes.

Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Greater Cincinnati
Cincinnati
Private Enforcement Initiative - $273,815
The Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Greater Cincinnati will use its grant to address housing discrimination against all protected classes under the Fair Housing Act, and its amendments, in any covered housing transaction whether rental, sales, or financing. In addition to responding to complaints initiated by victims of discrimination, HOME will conduct 195 systemic or random matched pair tests (390 testing visits). Sales testing will be conducted to ensure housing accessibility for persons with disabilities. HOME will conduct an audit of 45 multifamily developments. In cooperation with a local grassroots organization, the organization will conduct outreach and fair housing education through churches in a low and moderate-income Cincinnati neighborhood. Three training events also will be held for mental health providers.

Housing Research and Advocacy Center
Cleveland
Education and Outreach Initiative - $275,000
Housing Research and Advocacy Center and its subcontractors, Fair Housing Resource Center and Heights Community Congress, will provide fair housing services in the Cleveland metropolitan area, which includes Cuyahoga, Geauga and Lorain counties. The services will be extended to all protected classes, with the focus on reducing discrimination against persons with disabilities, African Americans, Hispanic/Latinos and families with children. The Housing Center will also perform testing in the areas of rental, lending, sales and insurance. In addition, they will conduct education and outreach activities and survey newly constructed multifamily housing and monitor housing advertisements.

Miami Valley Fair Housing Center, Inc.
Dayton
Education and Outreach - $100,000
The Miami Valley Fair Housing Center, Inc., will use its grant to conduct education and outreach activities in Montgomery County and the Miami Valley to inform the public and housing professionals about their rights and obligations under the Fair Housing Act and substantially equivalent state and local fair housing laws. The project will result in referrals of fair housing complaints to HUD, to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission - a Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) agency - and to the Dayton Human Relations Council, also a FHAP agency. MVFHC will also provide to limited English proficient (LEP) individuals information about as well as access to program benefits through translation and interpretive services in accordance with HUD's published LEP Guidance.

Miami Valley Fair Housing Center, Inc.
Dayton
Private Enforcement Initiative - $275,000
The Miami Valley Fair Housing Center, Inc., will use its grant to provide a holistic approach to combating housing discrimination by providing a comprehensive systemic investigation program to address predatory lending, reasonable accommodations, accessible design and construction testing, linguistic profiling and education and outreach to residents in the Montgomery County area of Ohio.

Miami Valley Fair Housing Center, Inc.
Miami
Fair Housing Organization Initiative - Continued Development Component - $90,000
The Miami Valley Fair Housing Center, Inc., will use its grant to expand MVFHC's Information Technology infrastructure to better support MVFHC operational staff in the provision of enforcement and education services in the greater Dayton/Montgomery County, Ohio, area. This funding will also support MVFHC's work in its Predatory Lending Solutions project, which provides prevention and intervention services to borrowers that have mortgages with unacceptable terms or conditions or mortgage loans resulting from unacceptable practices that destabilize neighborhoods.

Fair Housing Resource Center, Inc.
Painesville
Private Enforcement Initiative - $275,000
The Center will use its grant to reduce housing discrimination in Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula counties. Under this 3-year project, some of the Center's many first-time activities to be completed will be: various enforcement efforts within the three counties involving rental testing on the basis of race, disability and familial status; testing of the homeowners' insurance market with respect to race and national origin; testing activities involving the lending market; a new construction study auditing compliance with FHA in covered multi-family dwellings; and a monitoring project to increase the number of meritorious claims to HUD.

Fair Housing Opportunities Inc. dba Fair Housing Center
Toledo
Private Enforcement Initiative - $275,000
Fair Housing Opportunities, Inc., will use its grant to conduct a comprehensive fair housing enforcement project in Toledo, Bowling Green and their outlying areas that encompass five components: Victim's Assistance, Compliant Investigation, Outreach, Monitoring and Prevention. These components contain activities which encompass six HUD priorities and will undertake the aggressive intake and investigation of discrimination complaints, and conduct testing in sales, rental, insurance and predatory lending. The goals and objectives of the proposed project includes addressing systemic patterns and practices of discrimination, providing remedies for violations of fair housing laws, deterring future acts of discrimination, and expanding equal housing opportunities.

Total : $2,113,815

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