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.