Fight Access Barriers in Housing! Action Needed, Call Senator Durbin by May 16.

as shared from our colleagues at Access Living in Chicago ...

Dear Access Living friends and allies,   We have an important action alert on housing that impact people with disabilities and action is needed. We need to get Illinois Senator Durbin on board by May 16. To learn more and take action, read on. From PolicyLink:   “For too many people, housing choices are constrained by discrimination and lack of access to opportunities. The operation of housing markets, investment choices by holders of capital, the history and geography of regions, and patterns of development and the built environment can result in segregation, racially concentrated areas of poverty, and unequal access to vital community assets that can shape life outcomes.   “The Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule (AFFH): The Fair Housing Act of 1968 requires the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to conduct programs in such a manner that "affirmatively furthers fair housing" — a term that has never been defined. Responding to concerns raised by the Government Accountability Office and stakeholders, the proposed rule does three key things:   1.Clarifies the definition of AFFH to include actions that expand mobility for all households in opportunity-rich communities, reducing segregation and concentrated poverty — as well as actions that invest in high-poverty communities, expanding opportunity for existing residents.   2.Improves the process that local jurisdictions undertake to ensure that HUD funds are being used to further fair housing by aligning it with Consolidated Plans for CDBG and HOME allocations and with Public Housing Plans for public housing dollars.   3.Provides local jurisdictions with consistent data to ensure that grantees can measure their progress on reducing segregation and racially concentrated poverty while expanding access to quality schools, good jobs, and healthy environments for all.   Members of Congress are circulating a letter in support of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule. This rule, proposed by HUD, would invest in distressed communities and help people of color, families, and people with disabilities move to communities of opportunity.   PolicyLink, the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the National Fair Housing Alliance, and the Poverty and Race Research Action Council are working to support enacting the rule.”   Please contact Senator Durbin and ask him to sign on to the “Dear Colleague” letter on Afirmatively Furthering Fair Housing. He can be contacted at:   Senator Durbin, Richard J. - (IL) 711 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510 (202) 224-2152 Contact: www.durbin.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact   For more details on action, please visit this link.   Let’s Go Illinois!   Amber Smock Director of Advocacy, Access Living ### For Access Living website, visit:  http://www.accessliving.org/