The National Fair Housing Alliance, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, announced the creation of 12 fair housing/fair lending videos in American Sign Language (ASL) with English captioning. These videos provide critical legal and practical information in a format accessible to persons who are Deaf and/or Hard of Hearing. The […]
The Housing Center is pleased to announce the installation of our fair housing mural, “It is Above that You and I Shall Go” produced in collaboration with Building Bridges Arts Collaborative and the HELP Foundation, Inc. The mural is located on the western wall of Six Chimneys apartment building, 3907 Prospect Avenue, in Cleveland’s MidTown […]
The Housing Center is collaborating with Building Bridges’ youth arts and job training program to create a permanent, public mural which celebrates diversity and recognizes the importance of equal access to housing opportunities. The mural will be installed on the western wall of 3907 Prospect Avenue, easily visible to car and pedestrian traffic. The public dedication ceremony will take place on April 29, 2014 and will be followed by a community conversation and reception with the mural artists and local fair housing advocates at the Housing Center’s annual Fair Housing Celebration at Trinity Commons.
(more…)The Housing Center recognizes that fair housing cannot be accomplished without fair lending. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was created to make markets for consumer financial products and services work for Americans, including mortgage products. Discrimination in lending is prohibited under the Fair Housing Act. As the CFPB website states, “An informed consumer is the best line of defense against abusive practices.” The CFPB website is a great way to learn before you make major financial decisions, and with tax time upon us, many are on the verge of making major purchases with their anticipated refund. The CFPB now has an additional resource for income tax filing help. Find free, local tax prep & filing resources at the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Blog.
(more…)Did you know that housing providers cannot impose breed, size, or weight restrictions on service animals under the Fair Housing Act? Service animals are not considered pets, and therefore a person with a disability may make a reasonable accommodation request to allow a service animal (also called therapy, assistance, or companion animal). The request can […]
Interested in helping us spread the word about fair housing rights? The Housing Center has opportunities for individuals to speak at a variety of events on behalf of the Housing Center as a member of its Speakers’ Bureau. Potential volunteers must attend a Speakers’ Bureau training and would participate on an as-needed basis. Volunteer participation […]
The Housing Center welcomed new staff and enhanced services in response to the increased demand for fair housing services over the last year. In 2013, the Housing Center conducted over 400 audits for housing discrimination; hosted 52 fair housing training sessions (attended by 1,434 people); tabled 23 community outreach events; and released six research reports.
(more…)Many people resolve to find the home of their dreams in the New Year. The Housing Center is very pleased to announce a free new consumer manual Fair Housing: Know Your Rights! to help people in their search. This consumer manual is made possible by a generous grant from the Cleveland Foundation and was written […]
The civil rights struggle today is just as important as it was 58 years ago, when a 14-year-old African-American boy, Emmett Till, was brutally murdered for whistling at a white woman in the south. Till was from Chicago and bragged to his cousins, whom he was visiting in Mississippi, about the white girlfriend he had back home. He asked a 21-year-old white female store clerk out on a date and whistled at her on a dare. Shortly thereafter, he was abducted from his uncle’s house, beaten, shot in the head and found in the Tallahatchie River with a cotton-gin fan tied around his neck. The all-white jury found the murderers, including the store clerk’s husband, not guilty. One of the accused murderers was quoted as saying, “Well, what else could we do?…I like n—–s—in their place…They ain’t gonna go to school with my kids…and I just made up my mind. ‘Chicago boy,’ I said, ‘I’m tired of ‘em sending your kind down here to stir up trouble…I’m going to make an example of you—just so everybody can know how me and my folks stand.’”
(more…)You Rocked the Block! Thank you to everyone who joined in the 2nd Annual Rock the Block at Edgewater Park on Saturday. It was a beautiful day to celebrate inclusive communities and to support the Housing Research & Advocacy Center’s work to end housing discrimination. The Housing Center wishes to thank everyone who contributed to and participated in this event.
With your help the Housing Center will be able to advocate for more of the 30,000 people who experience housing discrimination in Northeast Ohio every year and to expand our work to prevent discrimination through research and education. Thank you to each and every one of you! We cannot achieve housing choice for all without your support and participation.
(more…)The Housing Research & Advocacy Center recently released “Best Practices for Rental Property Management: A Manual for Northeast Ohio Landlords,” a guide for landlords to make the most of their rental properties while following fair housing and landlord-tenant law. Part 1 and Part 2 are available online free of charge. Spiral-bound copies are available at our office or can be shipped for the price of postage. If you are interested in a spiral-bound copy for your home or workplace, contact Krissie Wells.
(more…)The Housing Research & Advocacy Center is pleased to announce our role in a national research study on housing discrimination, conducted by the Urban Institute commissioned by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In a report titled, “Housing Discrimination Against Racial and Ethnic Minorities 2012,” the Urban Institute found that subtle discrimination […]
The Housing Center hosted its 30th Anniversary Celebration & Fair Housing Art Exhibition at The City Club of Cleveland. The event honored Reverend Hilton Smith, Senior Vice President and Director of National Community Affairs for Turner Construction Company, and recently elected President of the Cleveland Branch of the NAACP. Smith was among the first in the construction industry to proactively promote opportunities for minority and women-owned businesses.
(more…)The Housing Center recently released two research reports with findings that the region continues to see historic highs in housing discrimination complaints filed. The State of Fair Housing in Northeast Ohio: April 2013 found a 32% increase in the number of complaints filed in the last 5 years (2008-2012) compared with the previous time period (2003-2007). The Housing Center estimates that there are at least 33,690 instances of housing discrimination annually in the region against African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the rental and sales markets, meaning that the vast majority of cases are never reported to a government agency.
(more…)The Housing Center is pleased to welcome Dr. Brian Mikelbank to its Board of Directors. Brian is an Associate Professor and Director of the Masters of Science in Urban Studies program at the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University. Dr. Mikelbank’s most recent research focused on spatial analysis of metropolitan […]
