Achieving the Dream for Everyone
The National Fair Housing Alliance stepped up the fight to insure everyone has a chance at achieving the American Dream – owning a home in a safe welcoming neighborhood – during our 20th annual conference. More than 300 members gathered at our conference in Washington to send a strong message about the importance of fair lending in the home mortgage industry – it’s not only the right thing to do, but when unfairness wins everybody else loses.
Conference panels discussed the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and reviewed fair housing enforcement policies by the United States Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. We examined how predatory subprime lenders marketed shoddy financial products to communities of color triggering the current housing meltdown which has imperiled our entire economy.
The fallout could mean a tightening of credit for home buyers with some decision makers proposing high down payments for a home further curtailing home ownership for millions in the middle class. “Generations of Americans have tapped their home equity to send their children to college to provide for a brighter tomorrow,” said Shanna Smith, president and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance. “We can’t allow the future to dim for communities of color.”
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, Tulane Professor Melissa V. Harris-Perry and john a. powell of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity were among our conference speakers.
NFHA also found time during our conference to recognize our success stories. We presented the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) with the prestigious Chairman’s Award for its contribution to the movement. Our allies in New Orleans were cited for the on-going litigation with St. Bernard Parish, their development of the Road Home Program, a recent forum on fair housing and food justice and for publishing a children’s book, “The Fair Housing Five & the Haunted House.”
For photos of conference highlights please click here.