APRIL IS FAIR HOUSING MONTH

Sarasota, FL: To celebrate Fair Housing Month, Sarasota County and the City of Sarasota are announcing a community wide process to increase fair housing opportunity throughout Sarasota. Affirmatively furthering fair housing is a Federal requirement for counties and municipalities receiving affordable housing and community development block grant funding and an obligation of local governments.

The main tool that local governments use to enhance fair housing opportunity is fair housing planning. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development requires that all communities that receiving Community Development Block Grants submit an Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI). The AI requires extensive public outreach, an analysis of local government regulations and community housing patterns to define an action plan to increase fair housing education and opportunity. The plan will not only detail existing impediments to fair housing, but, most importantly, provide the community with specific strategies to improve fair housing opportunity.

Over the next nine months, the Office of Housing and Community Development (OHCD) will facilitate a public discussion on fair housing impediments and solutions in our community. The Office of Housing and Community Development is a joint City/County office that administers Federal and State affordable housing and community developments grants throughout Sarasota County.

The initial step to a full analysis is fair housing testing in our community. The results of these tests are then used as a baseline to determine types of fair housing training that should be offered to our community and how to best measure the long-term success of the training. The next fair housing training offered by the Office of Housing and Community Development will be in July 2011. The dates and locations of this training will be announced in the near future.

To learn more about the importance of fair housing opportunity in our community, please contact Debra Figueroa Debra. Community Development Manager,941-951-3640 ext. 3762