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.
Working with the City of North Olmsted, the Housing Center will increase awareness of fair housing laws and fair housing rights among Muslims and Arabs, growing minority groups in Northeast Ohio that have been traditionally underserved. The Housing Center and the City of North Olmsted will partner with community groups to create a Muslim & Arab Housing Access Advisory Committee, promote fair housing rights within the Muslim and Arab communities, and conduct fair housing discrimination testing in neighborhoods where there is a growing Muslim and Arab population.
The Housing Center will also collaborate with the City of Shaker Heights on accessibility and visitability initiatives through a pilot survey and training project. The Housing Center will survey existing multi-family properties and present two workshops. One training will educate property owners on how to incorporate accessible features into new home construction projects and the rehabilitation of older homes to make them more visitable. The other workshop will train housing providers about updated accessibility requirements.