Fair Housing training for people with disabilities
By Christina Clift
On May 20, 2016 the Shelby County Office of Code Enforcement in partnership with the Memphis Area Legal Services Fair Housing Center held a workshop to inform the public about renter’s rights. During the two hour workshop the presenter provided information about the Fair Housing Act, The Memphis Fair Housing Ordinance, and more.
Both the Fair Housing Act and Memphis Fair Housing Ordinance provide protections against discrimination towards individuals with disabilities and other protected groups of individuals. The Fair Housing Center provided an understandable explanation and examples of what a reasonable accommodation and reasonable modification.
A reasonable accommodation is a change to an existing policy or practice. This means that if a person with a visual disability needed information regarding their rent or other issues that would normally be provided in print the accommodation would be to have that electronically communicated to them so that they could access it. A reasonable modification is a change to the existing structure of a facility. For example adding a ramp so that an apartment is accessible or adding grab bars to a bathroom.
When requesting either a reasonable accommodation or modification, it is important to put it in writing. The accommodation or modification must be requested based on how it would impact their disability. These requests must be reasonable and must not create a financial hardship for the landlord. If you are unsure about whether or not you’ve been treated fairly by your landlord or have been denied a reasonable accommodation or modification, you can call the Memphis Area Legal Services Fair Housing Center for assistance at (901) 432-4663.
MCIL works to coordinate information for people with disabilities looking for work.
There were over seventy-five employers with booths looking for workers. The Kroc Center gym was filled with people from 9:00 to noon searching for the right job. The Disability summit began at 10:00 and divided up into four breakout sessions throughout the day. Charles Henderson facilitated a breakout session on "Maximizing Your Job Search Through Social Media," and Tyler Rudd of the Toastmasters covered "How to Speak Well During an Interview." Sarah Kassas facilitated a "Resource Round-up" and Hope Johnson, a Work Incentives Coordinator, spoke about "How to Make Your Disability Benefits Work for You."
The Disability Summit included a catered lunch by Corky's BBQ and featured Veverly Edwards and her daughter Robin speaking about how disability has impacted their lives. Attendance at the entire event was not counted, but there were hundreds of people at the Kroc Center with parking spilling out of the overflow parking. The Summit ran until 2:00 in the afternoon.
People absent from the round table
The Three-Star Healthcare Task Force met the public at the University of Memphis on Monday for a “round-table” that allowed few people to speak. The Task Force was created by Speaker Beth Harwell to address the Legislature overlooking the issue of Medicaid Expansion in the state of Tennessee. Rep. Karen Camper on the Committee said that they are hearing from people before they meet with the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services in June.
The public did not have a chance to speak until the very end of the two hour discussion. The final statement came from Diane Cameron who has a daughter in the gap and questioned why the approved Insure Tennessee is not the guide the Task Force is using. The irony of the “round table” is that the Committee Chair asked questions of some individual who had no real understanding of healthcare the community need; and is likely the only individual in the US who did not know Emergency Rooms had an obligation to stabilize people. Yet, much of the task force time was devoted to this individual who represented the National Federation of Independent Businesses and he was unsure of how his organization stood on the Medicaid Expansion issue.
There was little guidance to the discussion. The Memphis Chamber of Commerce was clear that the Tennessee Legislature’s failure to act had cost billions of investment dollars and thousands of jobs. He said that healthcare is the number one concern for business that are considering to come to Memphis and our community strangely is young with chronic health issues.
The committee chair at one point quipped that “an advantage of waiting is that the data and what CMS will approve is better now.” The advantage he sees is that the state of Tennessee has lost about $4 billion but has the experience of other states to plan what Tennessee will do. The sad fact is that Tennessee could have expanded Medicaid brought the money into the state, improved jobs and saved Tennesseans lives, and still over the years contemplated changes to the program.
Marion Bacon spoke near the end and praised Deborah Cunningham and Sandi Klink of the Memphis Center for Independent Living for having faith in her to work and advocate. Marion said she just graduated from Southwest Community College and is an example of success if we invest in our community with healthcare.
Disabilities and Reasonable Accommodations
Free Housing seminar at the Code Enforcement training room for landlords and tenants.
May 20, 2016, 9:AM to Noon
6465 Mullins Station Road, Memphis, TN 38134
The seminar is designed to give you a brief detailed synopsis of the fair housing laws and what your rights are as a citizen.
If you have questions or to RSVP you may call or email L. Mario Moton at 901-222-76141; levester.moton@shelbycountytn.gov; TTY 901-222-2301. Para mas informacion en Espanol, por favor llame al 901-222-4289
Presented by the Shelby County Department of Housing and Memphis Area Legal Services.
