The San Diego Regional Alliance for Fair Housing (SDRAFFH) and the San Diego Housing Federation presented the 7th Annual Fair Housing Conference on Wednesday, April 20 and Thursday, April 21 2022. In celebration of National Fair Housing Month in April, this Conference explored critical fair housing issues with the theme: Unraveling Segregation: A New Era in Fair Housing.
Thank you to our sponsors The San Diego Housing Commission, Citibank, and CalHFA!
Day 1 Recap
Gustavo Velasquez, Director, CA Department of Housing & Community Development kicked off this year’s conference with a Keynote Address. This was a rich address due to the experience that Velasquez has in the housing sector. It was also a joy, in this session to welcome Tyrone Buckley, Assistant Deputy Director of Fair Housing at California Department of Housing & Community Development and Ricardo Flores, Executive Director, LISC San Diego to take part in the morning session as well as the Q & A portion.
During the conference there was also a panel discussion on Fair Housing and Homeownership that sought the address what some San Diego based organizations are doing to off-set what has resulted from discriminatory practices in lending and land use, homeownership. Emmanuel Martinez, previously with The Markup, shared data on this topic and Kwofi Reed, President & Chief Executive Officer, Habitat for Humanity, and Pamela Gray Payton, Vice President, Community Impact, The San Diego Foundation shared solutions their organizations are using to combat the disparity.
Keynote Session
Panel: Fair Housing and Homeownership
Day 2 Recap
The second day kicked off with a panel on what data shows in response to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) put in place as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The panelists included, Nick Martinez, County of San Diego, Azucena Valladolid, San Diego Housing Commission, Valerie Brew, SBCS Corporation, and was moderated by Estela de los Rios, CSA San Diego County. Each talked about what they learned from the ERAP and how their respective groups are thinking about the future.
The conference concluded with a local government panel discussion and Q & A with a handful of elected government officials: Vice Mayor Marcus Bush, City of National City, Council President Sean Elo-Rivera, City of San Diego, Councilmember Katie Melendez, City of Vista, Councilmember Colin Parent, City of La Mesa and was moderated by Laura Nunn, Director of Policy, SDHF. This panel addressed how each jurisdiction has taken action to carry out “affirmatively further fair housing (AFFH)” established recently in California law.
Panel: Rental Assistance by the Numbers - What Rental Assistance Data Tells Us about Fair Housing
Local Government Panel: Implementing Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing at the Local Level
Session Descriptions:
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As a result of discriminatory practices in lending and land use, homeownership continues to be one of the most significant areas of housing inequality. This panel will explore historic and current fair housing challenges in homeownership. Panelists will explore challenges and solutions.
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In response to the economic crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Emergency Rental Assistance Program was established to provide eligible households that are unable to pay rent or utilities with funds to provide assistance for these needs. At the same time, the pandemic revealed long-standing inequalities in housing opportunities and an ongoing and worsening affordable housing shortage. The San Diego region was awarded over $200 million to assist struggling households and data from where that funding went can help us better understand these dynamics at the local level. This panel will explore rental assistance data and discuss what the numbers can tell us about housing stability, vulnerable households, and fair housing issues from a fair housing perspective.
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Since 2019, California law established an obligation for jurisdictions to “affirmatively further fair housing (AFFH)” by taking meaningful actions to overcome patterns of segregation and foster inclusive communities. In addition to AFFH requirements for programs and activities, the law also added an AFFH analysis to the Housing Element for plans that begin in 2021. This panel will discuss local approaches to meeting new AFFH obligations and how the state law is changing the landscape for housing policies and local approaches to housing.
Interested in sponsoring the next event? Email carol@housingsandiego for more information.