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 […]
Can you find your zip code on the maps below? How segregated is your community? Over the last 20 years, the Cleveland-Lorain-Elyria Metropolitan Statistical Area remained one of the most segregated in the country. According to the Population Studies Center/University of Michigan, as of 2010 this area is the 5th most segregated in the nation. Only Milwaukee-Waukesha, New York, Chicago and Detroit surpass us. There have been some improvements in integration by national origin, but not enough. In 2010, our area was the 20th most segregated by national origin in the country.
(more…)The Housing Center is pleased to announce that we were awarded two grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through the cities of North Olmsted and Shaker Heights to improve access to housing for residents.
(more…)The Housing Research & Advocacy Center published a new guide to assist people with mental disabilities. “Obtaining and Maintaining Housing: Fair Housing for People with Mental Health Disabilities” presents fair housing information and the additional protections for people with disabilities in an easy-to-use graphical format. This resource was designed and written by Mandy Mehlman, Fair Housing Community Educator, to be used by individuals, their caregivers, and family members to help them understand and exercise their fair housing rights. It includes a helpful directory of fair housing organizations and governmental offices.
(more…)Although complaints of housing discrimination in Northeast Ohio decreased in 2011 from 2010, the number remained significantly higher than the average number of complaints filed in the last 22 years and represented the fourth highest yearly total since 1990, according to the new report issued by the Housing Research & Advocacy Center. In 2011, the top three basis discrimination complaints in Northeast Ohio were issued on the basis of famililal status (68), handicap/diability (40), and sex/gender (7). To view the entire report and other Housing Center publications, please check out our Research Reports (Publications/Research-Reports.html) page.
The winning submissions from the Housing Center’s Youth Art Contest hosted in March 2012 with grant support from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture are now available for viewing.
Thank you to all of the students from throughout Cuyahoga County who participated in the Housing Center’s Youth Art Contest hosted with grant support from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture! Students entering the contest were asked to respond to the question: “What makes your community great and how can you contribute to it by being a good neighbor?” The original artwork and essays created by the students were exhibited at the Seventh Annual Fair Housing Celebration & Art Exhibition on April 12, 2012 at Cleveland State University presented in honor of National Fair Housing Month.
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