“This work belongs to all of us”: Highlights from Fair Housing Month 2026
By: Nick Adjami
Date: April 30, 2026
Every April, the ERC celebrates Fair Housing Month with resource fairs, educational webinars, and our Annual Members Meeting. These events commemorate the passage of the Fair Housing Act on April 11, 1968. The landmark law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and familial status in all housing transactions, from renting or buying a home to obtaining a mortgage and more. ERC’s Fair Housing Month activities educated residents about their rights, helped housing providers align with best practices, and uplifted local partners working to promote fair housing choice. As ERC Executive Director Kate Scott reminded attendees at our annual meeting, everyone has a role to play in the fair housing movement: “This work belongs to all of us. Whether you’re speaking up or staying engaged, you are part of this.”
This year, we hosted or participated in over a dozen fair housing events, reaching over 500 residents, stakeholders, and housing professionals. Our events touched every corner of our service area, from D.C. to Baltimore, West Virginia, and more.
On April 24, our community came together for the ERC Annual Meeting at the True Reformer Building in Washington, DC. At Meeting the Moment: Coming Together for Fair Housing, Chief of Services to End and Prevent Homelessness at the Montgomery County DHHS Christine Hong, Maryland Commission on Civil Rights Executive Director Cleveland Horton, DC Office of Human Rights Interim Director Elizabeth Fox-Solomon, Director of the Fairfax County Office of Human Rights and Equity Programs Michael Simms, and Chief of the Civil Rights and Elder Justice Section at the DC Office of the Attorney General Alicia Lendon spoke to the value of local partnerships and collaboration. ERC Executive Director Kate Scott discussed how ERC has continued to serve our community through hardship and shared highlights from our 2025 Annual Report.
Lastly, we were thrilled to present awards to four people who have played key roles in our fair housing achievements in 2025 and over the years:
ERC’s Advocate for Change award recognizes an ERC client who has demonstrated courage and perseverance in their effort to fight discrimination. This year, we presented the Advocate for Change award to Ms. B, a Maryland mother of two who bravely reported discrimination to us and fought to hold the property manager and homeowner accountable. Watch this video to learn more about her case:
Martha Guarnieri and Rachel Nadas, partners at Handley Farah & Anderson, received our Partner in Progress awards. Martha and Rachel offered steadfast, excellent representation of ERC in several groundbreaking cases that have facilitated our ability to ensure that families with children, people with disabilities, and voucher holders are all treated fairly in local housing markets.
Finally, ERC Board of Directors President Robert Dinerstein presented ERC’s Impact for Equality award to our newest emeritus board member Jackie Simon. ERC’s Board of Directors recently conferred Jackie with emeritus status in recognition of her decades of service as an ERC board member. During her tenure, Jackie combined her expertise as a real estate agent and personal experience advocating for people with disabilities. In 1988, she testified before the House and Senate in support of amendments to the Fair Housing Act of 1968 to extend protections to people with disabilities, which became law later that year. Since then, she has continued to advocate for more accessible housing and helped hundreds of people find homes that meet their needs. We were honored to recognize her years of dedicated service at the event.
Thank you again to all who attended the Annual Meeting or participated in our other Fair Housing Month activities. Throughout April, we reached over 500 residents, stakeholders, and housing professionals in all corners of our service area. Fair Housing Month is over, but the ERC’s work to advance and uphold fair housing principles is ongoing. We’ll continue to share fair housing resources and commentary, both online and at in-person events. Stay informed by signing up for our newsletter, and see more photos from the event below.
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The ERC 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.
