FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: October 31, 2008
SPOKANE, WA – Northwest Fair Housing Alliance (NWFHA) will receive $275,000 for the second year of a three-year $825,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD). NWFHA, a non-profit organization founded in Spokane, Washington in 1994, is the only fair housing advocacy organization in Eastern Washington. Since 1994, NWFHA has received 6 one-year FHIP PEI grants.
Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI) grants are available to assists private, tax-exempt fair housing enforcement organizations, such as NWFHA, in the investigation and enforcement of alleged violations of the Fair Housing Act and substantially equivalent State and local fair housing laws. FHIP PEI awards fund activities that increase compliance with the Fair Housing Act and with substantially equivalent fair housing laws (including the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD)). A recipient of a 3 year performance-based FHIP PEI grant must have received excellent performance reviews for prior FHIP PEI awards made in at least two fiscal years beginning with FY 2002 and have received a minimum score of 95 on the most recent performance review by HUD FHEO. NWHFA received excellent ratings from HUD for each of the last four years.
HUD FHIP PEI funding in fiscal year 2009 will allow NWFHA to continue providing services for members of all protected classes (race, religion, color, disability, sex, familial status, national origin) in 17 Counties in Eastern/Central WA (Spokane, Whitman, Garfield, Columbia, Asotin, Walla Walla, Franklin, Benton, Yakima, Grant, Adams, Lincoln, Douglas, Ferry, Okanogan, Stevens and Pend Oreille). Additionally, NWFHA is carrying out specific program activities designed to combat housing discrimination targeted at immigrants, disabled individuals, and minority races in Eastern Washington. Working with grass-roots and faith-based partners, NWFHA will continue and expand its testing, investigation and complaint intake programs to increase access to HUD and the Washington State Human Rights Commission (WSHRC) enforcement services.
The NWFHA Team:
Pictured from left to right: Joseph Stassi (Finance Manager), Shawn Nikfar (Testing Coordinator), Marley Eichstaedt (Executive Director), and Christina Mitma (Case Manager). Not pictured: Jamie Borgan (Fair Housing Specialist) and Homero Tamez (Hispanic Outreach Coordinator). |
