"Where you live matters," Kelly Gores told the Human Rights Commission on Sept. 18 as she presented on behalf of the High Plains Fair Housing Center. Gores described the organization's three core activities — education, enforcement and advocacy — and urged continued local attention to fair-housing practices. She said High Plains is the only fair-housing nonprofit serving North and South Dakota and reported that in 2024 the organization trained more than 3,500 housing providers and distributed over 16,000 educational materials in seven languages. "This year alone in Fargo... they've already fielded 93 intakes, calls from residents who are facing possible housing discrimination," Gores said, adding that most intakes involved complaints about disability accommodations but intake allegations covered many protected classes. Gores told commissioners she would follow up with additional numbers and annual-report material. Commissioners asked about the relationship between institutional investors and affordability; Carolyn Beecraft asked if real-estate investment trusts (REITs) correlate with higher rents and reduced access for low-income renters. Gores said she had no direct testing data on that correlation but offered to follow up with research and noted a related fair-housing concern when vouchers do not cover prevailing market rents. The commission requested a copy of the materials and the organization's annual report to get the underlying data.