Category Archives: Uncategorized

2023 Forum Meetings – 2nd Wednesdays

The Idaho Fair Housing Forum members have been working to reanimate our long-running monthly stakeholder discussions. The Forum has always been a safe place for conversations among state and local governments, housing industry professionals, and consumer advocates. As we always remind everyone, the Forum is not an advocacy organization; we’re a collaborative group interested in working together to better understand fair housing law, best practices and opportunities for productive cooperation.

The 2023 schedule is as follows:

  • Dates: Every Second Wednesday
  • Time: 10am-11am Mountain Time
  • Place: We default to Zoom or Teams

2023 Schedule from June to December

  • June 14
  • July 12
  • August 9
  • September 13
  • October 11
  • November 15
  • December 13

Join our distribution list!

To receive monthly meeting notifications and links, send your name / email to AmaraE @ ihfa.org (no spaces). You will be added to the Forum events list.

We hope to see you at our upcoming meetings, and encourage you to think about what you’d like to ask or contribute.

Housing Resources in Idaho

Idaho’s extreme housing shortage means we need to explore options in each region—for ourselves, our friends and our clients.

Click the links below to download and view information on housing and community resources and service providers.

Housing and Community Resource Information

Housing Assistance Guide for Idaho

(Languages below recommended by Boise’s English Language Center as high-frequency for refugees resettling in Idaho as of 2023)

Language Group Link to Guide
English Housing Assistance Guide for Idaho | English
Spanish Guía de asistencia para viviendas en Idaho | Español
French Guide des aides au logement dans l’Idaho | Français
Ukrainian Довідник для тих, хто шукає житло в штаті Айдахо | українська
Swahili Mwongozo wa Usaidizi wa Nyumba wa Idaho | kiswahili
Dari (Idaho) راهنمای کمک به مسکن آیداهو منابع و بهترین شیوه ها برای افرادی که به دنبال مسکن اجاره ای هستند | دری
Arabic دليل مساعدة الإسكان في ولاية أيداهو الموارد وأفضل الممارسات لمن يبحثون عن مساكن للإيجار | عربي

 

2023 Fair Housing Month: Activities and Resources

April is Fair Housing Month!

Idaho Fair Housing Forum members are gearing up for April, and we’d like to share a few activities and resources below with our partners and community stakeholders. While fair housing and related laws apply every day, each year we join with others to draw attention to the rights, responsibilities and economic benefits of housing choice and equity.

States and communities that receive federal funds—particularly from HUD—are required to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing (AFFH) in several ways. The AFFH requirements include, “taking meaningful actions, in addition to combating discrimination, that overcome patterns of segregation and foster inclusive communities free from barriers that restrict access to opportunity based on protected characteristics.”

Meaningful actions accomplish two key outcomes:

  • more fair housing choice
  • reducing disparities in access to opportunity

Forum partners typically pursue these outcomes through partnerships that increase awareness of fair housing law through conferences, sponsored training opportunities, and outreach materials. HUD program administrators must also demonstrate concrete steps taken to ensure that subrecipients of HUD funds are pursuing AFFH practices that support equity in programs, activities, resources and facilities.

In the case of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds at the state level, Idaho Commerce requires the following AFFH actions of all sub recipients

  • Designate a Fair Housing Resource Person
  • Adopt and publish a Fair Housing Resolution
  • Proclaim April as Fair Housing Month
  • Display Fair Housing Information
  • Fair Housing Assessment Form

Activities

Fair Housing Accessibility First! training events

Date Topic Session 1 Session 2 Registration
02/28/23 Kitchens 8–9:30am 12–1:30pm Register
03/14/23 Grab Bars 8–9:30am 12-1:30pm Register
03/21/23 Usable Doors 8–9:30am 12-1:30pm Register
04/04/23 Controls in Accessible 8–9:30am 12-1:30pm Register

All times are Mountain. Contact  to schedule training.

Resources for partners and communities

Fair Housing Month Proclamations: Sample language

Free Education and Outreach Materials. IHFA produced a series of fair housing materials as part of its FHIP-EOI grant in 2020 and 2021. Print materials and videos are available at no cost on request.

Additional background and resources that help put AFFH requirements in context:

  • Segregated by Design This short film tracks the “forgotten history of how our federal, state and local governments unconstitutionally segregated every major metropolitan area in America through law and policy.”
  • Seven Days Award-winning film by Nationwide Insurance and the National Fair Housing Alliance chronicles daily events between the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King April 4, 1968 and passage of the Fair Housing Act April 11, 1968
  • House Rules This collaborative journalism project describes how where we live determines our access to essential community assets, economic opportunity and social capital. And it looks at the role and fate of George Romney, the first individual charged with implementing the Fair Housing Act.
  • 2022-2027 AI: What cities and counties should know about fair housing (pending) Broad-brush overview of important context and concepts for Idaho communities to understand, with references to the most recent Statewide Analysis of Impediments covering Idaho’s non-entitlement (balance of state) jurisdictions served by Idaho Commerce and IHFA.

Fair Housing Training: Equal Access

Thursday, December 15th at 9am – 3pm

Boise City Hall

Our Path Home is honored to partner with Intermountain Fair Housing Council (IFHC) to provide an in-depth training on Fair Housing: Equal Access presented by Zoe Ann Olsen the Executive Director at the IFHC.

REGISTER HERE

During the Equal Access Training you will gain an understanding of Fair Housing Basics, Equal Access Rules, and Reasonable Accommodations/Modifications. Practical Training Scenarios and a Q&A Session will also be included to ensure a deep understanding of material. This training is recommended to anyone who owns, operates, or manages shelter and other facilities and providers of service funded by any HUD CPD program.  

In this training, you will learn about the 2016 Equal Access Rule that requires recipients of HUD’s CPD funding to grant equal access to such facilities and services in accordance with the individuals gender identity that affords equal access to individuals family. You will also partake in training scenarios, implementations of equal access rule, and be provided examples of anti-discrimination policies and HUD LGBTQ+ Homelessness Resources.

Zoe Ann Olson has been with IFHC for over a decade. She has extensive housing law experience including the Fair Housing Act (FHA), Idaho State housing law, reasonable accommodations and modifications, litigation concerning the FHA, public housing cases, wrongful evictions, repairs, security deposits, mobile home park cases, foreclosures, predatory lending, etc. Beginning in 2012 she has been the lead fair housing trainer throughout Idaho.

  • Where: Maryann Jordan Council Chambers at Boise City Hall
  • When: Thursday, December 15 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
  • Lunch: A taco bar lunch will be provided

REGISTER HERE