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Portland marks Fair Housing Month, honors student poster winners; fair-housing advocates warn of federal funding cuts
Summary
City and nonprofit leaders marked April as Fair Housing Month, presented winners of a statewide student poster contest and warned that HUD funding cuts are straining enforcement and testing work in Oregon.
Portland’s Homelessness and Housing Committee heard a presentation on Fair Housing Month on April 22 and recognized student winners of the Fair Housing Council of Oregon’s annual poster contest, while the council and nonprofit partners warned that federal funding reductions are straining fair-housing enforcement statewide.
Josh Roper, policy and planning director for the Portland Housing Bureau, told the committee that Mayor Wilson had proclaimed April Fair Housing Month and framed fair housing as a “promise to ensure every Portlander has access to safe, stable, and equitable housing.” Roper noted the bureau’s continuing investments in audit testing, education and enforcement in partnership with the Fair Housing Council of Oregon.
John Miller, executive director of the Fair Housing Council of Oregon, described the nonprofit’s statewide outreach and enforcement work and said national cutbacks in HUD funding have already affected dozens of fair-housing organizations. “Around the country, 79 organizations have lost their fair housing funding including ours,” Miller said, adding that the council is seeking local replacements for lost federal support and pushing back on federal policy moves that would reduce enforcement capacity.
Miller also presented winners from the council’s student poster contest. He said the contest drew 78 entries from nine schools across the state, with winners from Portland, Milwaukie, Tigard, Bend and other communities. He described the grand-prize entry and noted that cash prizes accompany contest awards; the grand-prize design will be reproduced as an official poster in English and Spanish for distribution to city offices.
Committee members thanked the students and praised the city’s partnership with the Fair Housing Council. Chair Avalos and Vice Chair Dunphy both said youth engagement on fair housing is important to shaping future policy priorities.
The presentation and discussion were informational; there were no committee actions or votes recorded on the item.
