Durbin and Quinn Announce $100,000 for Fair Housing Assistance
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn today announced that the Illinois Department of Human Rights will receive $100,000 in funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to help prevent housing discrimination. The funding was awarded through the Fair Housing Assistance Program, which assists state and local agencies administer fair housing laws that are consistent with the Federal Fair Housing Act.
“The intent of the Fair Housing Act was broad and inclusive: to advance equal opportunity in housing for the benefit of all Americans. The ongoing housing crisis continues to disproportionately impact African-American and Hispanic communities, making enforcement of this law critically important. This funding will give state and local housing agencies much-needed additional resources to administer fair housing laws and ensure that families across Illinois have fair and equal access to housing,” Durbin said.
“In Illinois, we’ve been working to help families facing foreclosure keep their homes and increase affordable housing across the state,” Quinn said. “Everyone should have the same rights when it comes to housing, and these funds will help us ensure that everyone has equal access to the American Dream.”
The Fair Housing Assistance Program offers state and local agencies with support for complaint processing, training, technical assistance, data and information systems, and other fair housing projects. The program is designed to build coordinated intergovernmental enforcement of fair housing laws and provide incentives for states and localities to assume a greater share of the responsibility for administering fair housing laws.