Piedmont Housing AllianceRegional Fair Housing Advisory Meeting Notes

March 23rd, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. at PHA

Present: Nate Brown, Billie Campbell, Bill Wanner, Catherine Rotolo, Mike Peoples, Dennis Pancoe, and Karen Reifenberger.

I. Fair Housing Month The group discussed several activities to commemorate Fair Housing Month in April:

1) Housing Opportunities for People with Disabilities: Resources, Roadblocks, and Rights – the group discussed logistics, program, and publicity.

2) 21 posters displays throughout the region and memos/resolutions at all 6 local government meetings.3) Public awareness ad campaign in local media.4) Outreach to children - Boys & Girls Club at Southwood in March; another scheduled for later in April.5) Celebration of Community display April 20th; Blue Ridge Home Show April 9-11. 6) Requesting accounts of housing integration and discrimination for article and potential cable show.

II. Education & Outreach Plan 25+ fair housing education sessions are planned for the year.Requests to run PSAs were set to all local radio and print publications. Over 200 paid and donated ad spots will run on NBC29 and 92.7 KissFM, and in the Hook, Real Estate Weekly, and Nuevas Raices.

III. Complaints & InquiriesSeveral on-going complaints include issues of discrimination based on disability, race, familial status, and national origin.

Next Regional Fair Housing Advisory Group Meeting: June 22nd from 3-4 at PHA.Meetings are held quarterly on the 4th Tuesdays from 3-4 pm.

The purpose of the Piedmont Housing Alliance Regional Fair Housing Advisory meetings is to help identify fair housing education and advocacy needs and to proactively assist in the design and implementation of appropriate responses to these needs. Meetings are held quarterly at PHA and are open to anyone committed to fair housing.

Piedmont Housing Alliance’s Regional Fair Housing Program promotes equal housing opportunity and combats housing and lending discrimination. As the regional provider of fair housing education, outreach, and advocacy service, our goal is to raise awareness and promote compliance with federal and state fair housing laws that protect our community from discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, family status, disability, and elderliness in the rental, sale and financing of housing. PHA’s fair housing services include advocating for victims of housing discrimination, responding to fair housing compliance questions, conducting fair housing education sessions, creating comprehensive educational materials and public awareness campaigns, and chairing the Regional Fair Housing Advisory Meetings. PHA is a member of the National Fair Housing Alliance.