Contact: Robert Nunn
Phone: 336-373-2038
                   

 City Holds Fair Housing Program to Discuss Challenges Faced
by Greensboro’s Immigrant Population
Also aims to educate residents and housing providers of their housing rights

GREENSBORO, NC (April 15, 2010) – In recognition of April being Fair Housing Month, the City of Greensboro’s Human Relations Department will hold a Fair Housing Program to discuss the closure of Lutheran Family Services and the impact that will have on Greensboro’s immigrant population, as well as to inform residents and housing providers of their housing rights. The program, which is free and open to the public, will be held Thursday, April 29, at 9:30 am in the Greensboro Historical Museum’s auditorium, 130 Summit Ave.  
 
The program will feature a panel discussion on housing and other resource challenges immigrants will face when Lutheran Family Services, an organization that provides health and human services to immigrants and people in need, closes its Greensboro office this June. Panelists include Sarah Ivory, director of Church World Service; Rev. Mark Sills, executive director of FaithAction International House; Leilani Roughton, supervisor of Lutheran Family Services; and Yamile Nazar, human relations administrator for the City.
 
Also, Dr. Stephen Sills, associate professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, will give a presentation on inequitable access to safe/affordable/fair housing for the immigrant population. 
 
In addition, Cheryl Gant, the City’s housing specialist, will give residents and housing providers an overview of the federal Fair Housing Act and the City’s Fair Housing Ordinance, which makes it unlawful for a person to be discriminated against in housing based on race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, or family status.

For more information, call the City’s Human Relations Department at 336-373-2038. Also, learn more about housing rights at www.greensboro-nc.gov/departments/Relations/fairhousing.

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The City works with the community to improve the quality of life for residents through inclusion, diversity, and trust. As the seventh largest employer in Greensboro, the City has a professional staff of 2,800 employees who maintain the values of honesty, integrity, stewardship, and respect. The City is governed by a council-manager form of government with a mayor and eight council members. For more information on the City, visit www.greensboro-nc.gov or call 336-373-CITY (2489).