Our belief: When diverse interest groups work in good faith on common goals, we can do big things.
The Idaho Housing and Finance Association’s (IHFA) Idaho Falls Branch Office—in partnership with the cities of Pocatello and Idaho Falls—is helping promote a fair housing training by the Intermountain Fair Housing Council on June 1st, 2023.
Where: The Colonial Theater, 450 A Street Idaho Falls, ID 83402
When: Thursday, June 1 · 8:30am – 4pm MDT
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:
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
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.
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:
Courtesy of Gary Hanes, founding member of the Idaho Fair Housing Forum and Managing Member of Gary E. Hanes & Associates, LLC
“HUD has recently issued information bearing on the Language Access Plan (LAP) and the Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Plan (AFHMP) and how they relate to one another. In the attachment below, we explore this a little further in hopes that it will help assisted housing providers navigate between these two complementary plans and meet the language access obligations of both.”
LANGUAGE ACCESS PLAN AND THE AFFIRMATIVE FAIR HOUSING MARKETING PLAN
Our Path Home is excited to announce a webinar learning experience open to all Our Path Home partners on April 22, 2022 from 3:00-4:30pm.
Dr. Jill Gill from Boise State University will be presenting an overview of the history of housing segregation, both nationally and in Idaho—including how it fit into a broader system of defacto segregation across the north, how it affected economic outcomes for black people in general, and what it looked like in Idaho (Boise and Pocatello specifically).
The history of housing segregation and discrimination are part of the foundation for the present state of homelessness. By learning our history, we can work to dismantle harmful systems and practices and create equitable ones in their place.
