CPHA’s Board President, Josh Civin, and Director of Community Engagement, Tammy Mayer, recently attended the 5th National Housing Mobility Conference at the Urban Institute in Washington D.C. on June 12, 2012. Ms. Mayer commented on her experience, saying that the event, “brought together some of the best housing mobility experts in the nation.” To watch HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan’s keynote address during the conference, click here.
The Poverty Race and Research Action Council (PRRAC) organized the conference to examine “new policies and advocacy opportunities to expand housing mobility and choice in the Housing Choice Voucher Program, along with a discussion of the implications of new research on assisted housing mobility.” This event included a round table discussion for practitioners to discuss best practices and share experiences. Mobility housing programs exist in part to break down racially-constrained areas and to rectify the fair housing violations that jurisdictions face when public housing projects have been systemically sited in areas of low-opportunity and low racial diversity.
In attendance at the conference was Johns Hopkins University’s Dr. Stephanie A. Deluca, whose groundbreaking research on the results of Baltimore’s housing mobility program was presented during the morning session on the 12th. Ms Mayer commented, “It was very exciting to see Baltimore’s mobility housing program highlighted as a model program during the event. Stephanie DeLuca’s research was captivating and it was exciting to hear how she is continuing to interview clients to learn about the successes of the program.” Baltimore’s program has helped over 1,500 families to move to housing in “mixed-income neighborhoods with low poverty rates, quality school and access to employment and increased quality of life throughout the region” in the last six years. To read a report about the Baltimore Housing Mobility Program, click on this link.
The Baltimore Regional Housing Campaign (BRHC), of which CPHA and PRRAC are members, broadly supports Baltimore’s housing mobility program, and many of the BRHC’s members were in attendance at the PRRAC conference. The BRHC promotes fair housing in the region, and advocates for the desegregation of housing in Baltimore. If you would like more information about Baltimore’s mobility initiative, click here.
