Celebrate Fair Housing Month with the ERC – Virtual and In-Person Events!
By Nick Adjami
Last updated: April 12, 2023
April is Fair Housing Month! To celebrate, the ERC has partnered with local agencies to offer a series of engaging virtual and in-person events throughout the month. From “Know Your Rights” trainings to discussions about historical barriers to fair housing and strategies for overcoming them, these events are designed to educate and empower the community.
The schedule includes our annual members meeting, where we’ll share highlights from our work over the past year and exciting new initiatives. The event will feature a keynote address from Professor Wendi Manuel-Scott about devalued and disappeared communities of color in Northern Virginia and the problem of inequitable “progress.” You won’t want to miss it! Register for our members meeting now, and other events at the links below.
April 1 – Northern Virginia Housing Expo
10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Dominion High School
21326 Augusta Drive, Sterling, VA 20164
Browse dozens of exhibits featuring apartment rentals, government assistance programs, home-buying opportunities and much more. The ERC will be tabling at the event, sharing fair housing resources and expertise. We are also hosting a fair housing workshop for attendees at 11:00 AM in Room 3. If you can’t attend in person, don’t worry! Browse virtual booths throughout April at novahousingexpo.org.
This 13th annual event is a cooperative effort of: Virginia Housing; Prince William, Fairfax, Arlington and Loudoun Counties; Alexandria, Falls Church and Manassas Park; the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors®; the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments; and the US Department of Housing & Urban Development’s DC Regional Office.
April 6 – New Video Resource: Housing Protections for LGBTQ+ People
Are you subscribed to the ERC’s emails? Sign up now to make sure you get our new video resource delivered straight to your inbox on the 6th. In 2021, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it would interpret the Fair Housing Act’s prohibition on sex discrimination to include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The ERC’s video will explain what rights LGBTQ+ people have under the law and outline housing providers’ obligations.
April 13 – Webinar: Fair Housing and the Eviction Record Sealing and Fairness in Renting Amendment Act of 2022
11:00 – 11:45 AM
The Eviction Record Sealing and Fairness in Renting Amendment Act of 2022 introduced new protections for voucher holders in DC. This free webinar from the ERC will help housing providers better understand and comply with their obligations under the law. Zoom-automated closed captioning will be provided. If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, for example professional live captioning or ASL interpretation, please contact us at communications@equalrightscenter.org or 202-234-3062. Register to attend!
April 18 – 2022 ERC Annual Report Release
From civil rights testing investigations to local fair housing advocacy, we are proud of what the ERC accomplished last year! The 2022 Annual Report will highlight our efforts to identify and eliminate discrimination in the Greater Washington, D.C. region, and nationwide. We can’t wait to share it with our members, without whom this work would not be possible.
April 22 – Anne Arundel County Housing Resource Fair
9:30 am – 1:00 PM
Van Bokkelen Elementary School
1140 Reece Road, Severn, MD 21144
This housing fair is targeted to first-time homebuyers. ERC staff will be tabling at the event, sharing fair housing resources and expertise, as well as giving a ten-minute presentation on sales and lending discrimination.
The event is sponsored by: Arundel Community Development Services, Inc. (ACDS), the County Executive Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Anne Arundel Community Action Agency.
April 25 – Weaving a Strong Net: Intertwining Approaches to Combat Discrimination
12:00 – 1:30 PM
Join us for the ERC’s annual members meeting and fair housing month celebration! We’ll share highlights from our work over the past year and exciting new initiatives. The event will feature a keynote address from Professor Wendi Manuel-Scott about devalued and disappeared communities of color in Northern Virginia and the threat of inequitable “progress.” We’re excited to be in (virtual) community with you all! Register now!
Professional real-time captioning will be provided. To request a reasonable accommodation, such as American Sign Language interpretation, please email communications@equalrightscenter.org by April 18th.
April 27: Source of Income Discrimination Listening Lab
6:00 PM
The DC Office of Human Rights is hosting a virtual session for community members to share concerns about voucher discrimination in the city. ERC staff will give a presentation on source of income protections, how to identify possible discrimination, and how the ERC can help you respond. Attendees will also have the opportunity to share their experiences and concerns with regard to searching for housing. Register for the Zoom event here.
NEW DATE: April 29 – NAACP Arlington’s Annual Fair Housing Conference
11:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School
3500 23rd Street S, Arlington, VA 22206
NAACP Arlington, in partnership with the ERC and HOME of Virginia, is hosting its annual fair housing conference on April 15th. The half-day, in-person event will feature speakers from fair housing advocacy organizations and government agencies, and aims to advance fair housing awareness among local officials, advocates, and community members. The ERC will speak on a panel about fair housing trends in Virginia. Register to attend!
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The Equal Rights Center (ERC) — a national non-profit organization — is a civil rights organization that identifies and seeks to eliminate unlawful and unfair discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations in its home community of Greater Washington DC and nationwide. The ERC’s core strategy for identifying unlawful and unfair discrimination is civil rights testing. When the ERC identifies discrimination, it seeks to eliminate it through the use of testing data to educate the public and business community, support policy advocacy, conduct compliance testing and training, and, if necessary, take enforcement action. For more information, please visit www.equalrightscenter.org.
The work that provided the basis for this publication was supported by funding under a grant with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The substance and findings of the work are dedicated to the public. The author and publisher are solely responsible for the accuracy of the statements and interpretations contained in this publication. Such interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Government.
