Fair Housing Conference

50 Years of Fair Housing

By Allison Donald, Independent Living Specialist
I attended the 2018 Fair Housing Conference facilitated by the Tennessee Human Rights Commission. The day long conference focused on the past, present, and future of fair housing in the wake of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The first speakers talked in depth about where the City of Memphis was now. Paul Young, the Director of Housing and Community Development spoke about some of the initiatives the city is backing to address the lack of affordable accessible housing in Memphis.

Mr. Young also acknowledged the barriers to equity, housing, and access in Memphis.  

Vicky Johnson (HUD) noted that there had been an increase in cases filed by people with disabilities requesting reasonable accommodations. Moving forward she thinks that there needs to be more time and research put into reasonable accommodations.

As the conference came to a close there was an emphasis put on best practices and policy. Also, the lawyers on the panel stressed the importance of the tenant being educated about their rights.