The City of Raleigh Fair Housing Hearing Board will hold its 9th Annual Fair Housing Conference on Friday and Saturday, April 29-30 in celebration of Fair Housing Month.

 

The conference theme is "Know Your Housing Rights: The Fair Housing Laws." Joining the City of Raleigh as sponsors are Legal Aid of North Carolina, Wake County, AT&T, the Town of Cary and the N.C. Housing Finance Agency.

 

The conference will focus on building inclusive communities that provide affordable housing opportunities. Participants also will learn about policies and practices that restrict housing choices and how to overcome such impediments.

 

The session will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Friday April 29 at the Raleigh Convention Center. The keynote speaker will be Sara Pratt, deputy assistant secretary in the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She will address fair housing on the national level and the requirements for states receiving federal funds to further fair housing. She also will talk about revised HUD requirements that demand that local governments take a more realistic look at impediments to fair housing choices.

 

The next session will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday April 30 at Martin Street Baptist Church, 1001 E. Martin St. North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Wanda Bryant will discuss lending and fair housing. On that day, children in kindergarten through grade six will participate in a youth session on fair housing rights.

 

The deadline to register is Friday April 22. Registration is free for Wake County residents and $50 for others. Lunch will be provided to the first 200 registrants for Friday April 29 and the first 100 adult and 100 youth registrants for Saturday April 30.

 

To receive more information, contact Debbie Puckett in the City of Raleigh Community Services Department at 919-996-6100.

 

Register online here.

 

For additional information, contact Community Specialist Stacey Lundy at 919-996-5711.