About the Housing Center

Mission Statement
To eliminate housing discrimination and assure choice in Northeast Ohio by providing those at risk with effective information, intervention and advocacy.

Background
Housing Research & Advocacy Center (The Housing Center) is a not for profit fair housing agency that promotes equal housing opportunities and positive race relations in Greater Cleveland and throughout the State of Ohio. The Housing Center was established in 1983 as the Metropolitan Strategy Group, but changed the name in 2003 to better reflect the organization’s mission. Housing Research & Advocacy Center was founded as a “brown bag” luncheon group of local fair housing/civil rights advocates who shared a goal of expanding housing opportunities for Greater Clevelanders regardless of their race, religion, gender, ethnicities, national origins familial status, or disabilities. Housing Research & Advocacy Center has significantly grown since its inception in 1983, while The Housing Center continues to advocate for programs that promote fair housing, the scope of the agency has changed from a grass-roots coalition of community groups, to a focused fair housing agency. The Housing Research & Advocacy Center’s general mission remains the same: To ensure, through research, educational programs, public policy and enforcement activities, that all residents are guaranteed equal access to housing.

Founding Date
Housing Research & Advocacy Center was established as the Metropolitan Strategy Group in 1983, was incorporated under not-for-profit laws in the State of Ohio in 1992, and granted federal exemption status in 1994.

Major Programs & Activities

Systemic and Complaint Based Discrimination Testing
The Housing Center has had a number of contracts with the federal government, Cuyahoga County, the City of Cleveland and the City of Mentor to conduct systemic and complaint based tests. These tests are one way to identify patterns of discrimination in housing.

Mapping and Research
In 1997, The Housing Center received a donation of the ArcView GIS mapping software package from Essential Information in Washington D.C. Since that time, the research and mapping capacity has greatly increased, resulting in the production of a number of reports and maps illustrating lending patterns within Greater Cleveland, and around the State of Ohio. This research has resulted in a number of policy changes at both local and state levels throughout Ohio.

Enforcement of Fair Housing Act through Litigation
In May of 2000, HRAC hired an attorney to serve as General Counsel to assist The Housing Center in processing Fair Housing Complaints, which arose as a result of the systemic testing program, and/or individual complaints received. As a result of cases filed by The Housing Center, over $125,000 has been generated in conciliation agreements, civil penalties and affirmative action agreements with individual housing providers throughout Greater Cleveland.

Education and Outreach
One of the key components to the success of Housing Research & Advocacy Center’s efforts to ensure that all people have equal access to housing has been the education and outreach section of the mission. The Housing Center regularly conducts anti-predatory lending workshops and fair housing law seminars for landlord and realtors with support from the Cuyahoga County Department of Development, the City of Lakewood, and the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development. The Housing Center has also presented two CLE's on Predatory Lending and Foreclosure Defense in partnership with Housing Advocates, Inc. and The Cuyahoga County Bar Association. The Housing Center employees have been invited to participate in a number of conferences, forums and panels on various aspects of fair housing and fair lending. In addition, The Housing Center has appeared in many newspaper articles in Cleveland papers, as well as other papers around the State of Ohio, for efforts made by the agency in promoting fair housing and lending. Furthermore, the research and mapping has been combined with the education and outreach. The Housing Center provides copies of maps and reports at low cost to other agencies, government officials and individuals in order to educate others about these lending patterns.

Links with Other Organizations
Housing Research & Advocacy Center, together with other fair housing agencies throughout Northeast Ohio participates in two regional fair housing groups, the Fair Housing Consortium, and the Northeast Ohio Fair Housing Alliance. The Consortium is composed of the Housing Advocates, Inc., Lake County Fair Housing Resource Center, Heights Community Congress, and The Housing Center. The Consortium was created as a mechanism through which limited fair housing resources can be better utilized by a regional fair housing approach. The members of the Consortium work together and have received a number of grants to work jointly on regional fair housing issues. The Housing Center is also a member of the Northeast Ohio Fair Housing Alliance, a recently created entity designed to encourage non-profits and local governments in the Greater Cleveland area to collaborate on the promotion of fair housing. Housing Research & Advocacy Center is also involved with the City of Cleveland Predatory Lending Task Force, and the Cuyahoga County Predatory Lending Task Force.

Housing Research & Advocacy Center also participates in a number of statewide coalitions involved in the promotion of civil rights, specifically fair housing and fair lending, including, Ohio Community Reinvestment Project, and the Coalition of Housing and Homelessness in Ohio.

Staff:

Jeffrey D. Dillman, Executive Director
Carrie Bender Pleasants, Director of Research & Investigation
Hope Farmby, Fair Housing Specialist
Darlene English, Education & Outreach Coordinator
Samantha Hoover, Fair Housing Research Associate
Meran Chang, Fair Housing Intern

Board of Directors:

Sheryl King Benford
General Counsel, Deputy General Manager for Legal Affairs,
Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority

Patricia Burgess, President
        Ph.D., J.D., retired

Claudia Coulton
        Lillian F. Harris Professor
        Co-Director, Center on Urban Poverty and Social Change
        Case Western Reserve University

Martha Goble, Secretary
        Retired, former Executive Director,
        Heights Community Congress

Kathy Kazol
        Executive Director
        Emerald Development and Economic Network, Inc. (EDEN, Inc.)

John McDonnell, Treasurer
        Vice President, Human Resources
        Cleveland Clinic

CARLETON MOORE!
        Senior Vice President for Advance Planning,
        CWM! Architects

Gay Quereau
        Retired, former litigation paralegal in employment discrimination,
        fair housing research associate, program coordinator

Vanessa Randolph, Vice President
        Retired Director, Fannie Mae Northern Ohio Partnership Office

Jerome Walcott
        Program Administrator,
        Commission on Catholic Community Action

If you are interested in being considered as a candidate for the Housing Center's Board of Directors, please contact Jeffrey Dillman for more information.