Confronting Barriers: 
Empowering Communities for Housing Equality

Virginia's Fair Housing Summit

Use hashtag #ConfrontingBarriers   
@HOMEofVA @VCUWilderSchool

Registration for the event is now closed.

Here are the details of the event for those attending.

Summit Agenda

8:00 - 9:00 AM - Registration & Breakfast

9:00 - 10:15 AM - Opening Plenary
Susan Gooden, Interim Dean, VCU Wilder School 
Heather Crislip, President & CEO, HOME of VA
Senator Jennifer McClellan, Virginia State Senate, 9th District
Lizbeth T. Hayes, Fair Housing Director, Virginia Fair Housing Office, DPOR

 10:30 - 11:45 AM - Morning Sessions

Reasonable Accommodations and Fair Housing Rights for Persons with Disabilities
Beth Argent, HOME of VA
Kelly Hickok, Resources For Independent Living

Evictions in Virginia
Lavar Edmonds, Eviction Lab, Princeton University
Kathryn Howell, VCU Wilder School 
Elora Lee Raymond, School of City and Regional Planning, Georgia Institute of Technology

Transportation Equity
Alex Baca, Greater Greater Washington
Ross Catrow, RVA Rapid Transit
Fabrizio Fazulo, Center for Urban and Regional Analysis

Mobilizing Civic Infrastructure through Urban Greening
Duron Chavis, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden
Meghan Gough, VCU Wilder School 

12:00 - 1:15 PM - Lunchtime Keynote
Lisa Rice, President & CEO, National Fair Housing Alliance

1:30 - 2:45 PM - Early Afternoon Sessions

Source of Income Discrimination
Delegate Jeff Bourne, Virginia House of Delegates
Alex Guzmán, HOME of VA
Toni Jackson, HOME of VA
Noire Turton, Community Member & Advocate

Community Engagement
Shekinah Mitchell, Virginia LISC
Ebony Walden, Ebony Walden Consulting
Lea Whitehurst,   Virginia Community Voice
Mariah Williams,The Spark Mill

Philanthropy’s Role in Advancing Racial Equity
Tamara Copeland, Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers
Fred G. Karnas, The Kresge Foundation
Michael Smith, Richmond Memorial Health Foundation
Greg Gallop, Community Engagement Officer, Community Foundation for a greater Richmond

LGBTQ+ Community
Lacette Cross, SidebySide

3:00 - 4:15 PM - Late Afternoon Sessions

The Lens We Wear: Discovering Opportunities in Bias
Tyra Beaman, Black Beyond Borders
Delonte Egwuatu, Black Beyond Borders

Gentrification
Stacey Sutton, University of Illinois Chicago
Ben Teresa, VCU Wilder School 

Community-based Assessments of Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience
Jeremy Hoffman, Science Museum of Virginia
Aurash Khwarzad, Upper Manhattan Project

4:20 - 4:30 PM - Closing Remarks

Opening Plenary Speaker

Senator Jennifer McClellan
Virginia State Senate

Keynote Speaker

Lisa Rice
President & CEO, National Fair Housing Alliance

Session Topics 

Community-based Assessments of Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience

Explore the interaction and intersection between housing policy, environmental disparity, and climate resilience. Examples of recent work in Richmond and New York will serve as case studies to better understand how communities are impacted by environmental issues and effective strategies they can implement to overcome negative impacts. 

Community Engagement
Community engagement enables a deeper understanding of community members experiences within the spaces they occupy. Both the processes and outcomes of this engagement have the ability to shape the various systems that work to ensure that individuals and families have access to opportunity. Working to make a collective impact within these systems in order to help the most vulnerable requires a thoughtful and intentional public engagement.  

Evictions 
National data has shined a light on an eviction crisis in Virginia that some have said was “hidden in plain sight” for years. Five of Virginia’s largest cities, and three of its mid-sized cities, have some of the highest eviction rates in the country. This session will provide background on the underlying cause of the eviction epidemic and case studies of how various communities are working to ensure rental housing stability.

Gentrification
Gentrification is the processes in which higher income or higher status people relocate to, or invest in, low income, urban neighborhoods; neighborhoods that have been historically disinvested. This session will discuss the underlying causes of gentrification - historic, systemic housing discrimination and racial wealth inequality and its impacts beyond displacement. We will also provide community based and public policy solutions to ensure neighborhoods remain affordable, socially intact, vibrant, healthy, and diverse.

The Lens We Wear: Discovering Opportunities in Bias
This interactive session will guide participants in developing a deeper understanding of how their own identities help to construct and inform their biases. Through a variety of activities, participants will be challenged to distinguish and make connections between social structures and their personal identities in order to better understand one's place, agency, and access in our world.

LGBTQ+ Community
This interactive training focuses on working with the LGBTQ+ community.  Participants learn basic understanding of LGBTQ+ identities, housing information, as well as best practices for supporting LGBTQ+ persons in the community. 

Mobilizing Civic Infrastructure Through Urban Greening
This session will examine how urban greening initiatives can promote the built environment and serve as a vehicle to build community and increase local civic capacity. Speakers will discuss the importance of cross-sector partnerships, philanthropy and resident leadership in creating community-based and culturally relevant greenspaces.  

Philanthropy's Role in Advancing Racial Equity
The philanthropic community can play an integral role in advancing racial equality. This session will focus on the various ways in which philanthropic organizations can invest in their communities to overcome historic disinvestment, create wealth generating opportunities, and work to close the racial wealth gap.

Reasonable Accommodations and Fair Housing Rights for Persons with Disabilities
This session will provide insight into the extra protections for persons with disabilities awarded under the state and federal fair housing laws: reasonable accommodations, modifications, and design and construction accessibility standards. The presentation will illustrate the difficulties present in finding accessible housing for individuals with disabilities and what housing discrimination might look like at various stages in the rental process. Goals of the presentation are for consumers to be empowered by knowing their rights. 

Source of Income Discrimination
In searching for a place to live, many households face discrimination by landlords who are unwilling to rent to housing choice voucher holders. As a result, many states and localities have adopted laws prohibiting housing discrimination based on source of income. This session will provide multiple perspectives on the issue in Virginia, from the data, to difficulties in finding quality housing, to the legislative push to enact protections.

Transportation Equity
Accessible, affordable transportation is a critical community asset. Low-income residents disproportionately rely upon public transportation to access jobs, educational opportunities, and health care. This session will discuss the critical role that transit access plays in social and racial equality, provide analysis of existing systems, and discuss best practices.

 

You can park in the Main Street Deck between Laurel and Cherry Streets. The Main Street Deck appears as a large blue spot with a "P" in the middle.