Fair Housing Month Focuses on Bias, Rights
April 26, 2012, 6:59 AM BUFFALO NEWS
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Various activities are scheduled during Fair Housing Month to raise awareness about housing discrimination and inform people of their rights under fair-housing laws.
• From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today, a webcast will be available for viewing at www.dhr.ny.gov. Titled “Emerging Federal and State Fair Housing Issues,” it’s part of a conference presented by the New York State Division of Human Rights and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Other activities include “Testify! Voices for Human Rights in the U.S.,” a compilation of short human rights videos from across the country. Julia Hall, a human rights attorney working with Amnesty International and previously with Human Rights Watch, is the keynote speaker.
• Programs will be held at 7 p.m. today in Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, 341 Delaware Ave., and next Thursday in the Village Meeting House, 5658 Main St., Williamsville. For more information, call Grace Andriette at 847-0650.
• A spaghetti dinner will be sponsored by People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH) to raise money to send local residents to the National People’s Action 2012 Conference. The dinner starts at 5:30 p.m. Friday at 271 Grant St. For more information, call Whitney Yak at
884-0356.
• A West Side Housing Partnership Fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday in the Loretto Ministry Center, 301 14th St. For more information, call Cornelia Dohse-Peck at
474-6485.
• The Erie County Fair Housing Partnership will host a speaker series next week in Buffalo. The weeklong event is free and open to the public on the following days:
3 to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday — “Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Housing Rights,” presented by attorneys Jorien Brock with the Pride Center of WNY and Grace Andriette with Neighborhood Legal Services. The event will be held in Evergreen Conference Center, 119 Chippewa St.
5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday — “Tenant and Neighborhood Organizing,” presented by Whitney Yax, a PUSH community organizer. The session will be held in West Side Community Center, 161 Vermont St.
3 to 5 p.m. next Thursday — “Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention Workshop,” presented by Beverly Moore, housing coordinator at the Buffalo Urban League. The workshop will be held in the Urban League offices, 15 Genesee St.
9 a.m. to noon May 4 — “Housing Discrimination and Tenant Rights and Responsibilities,” presented by Rayna Grossman, education coordinator and mobility counselor at Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME); Grace Andriette, supervising attorney at Neighborhood Legal Services; and Tashene Eubanks, fair-housing officer with the City of Buffalo. The event will be held in HOME offices, 1542 Main St. at West Ferry Street.
• Heart of the City Neighborhoods Inc. will present “Boarding Up Our Burdens,” a breakfast and lecture, May 9 in Temple Beth Zion, 805 Delaware Ave. The event will address how vacant houses are draining neighborhoods, what they cost residents and innovative ways to combat the blight. The breakfast will run from 8:30 to 9 a.m., followed by a lecture until 10 a.m. Register online at www.hocn.org.