ERASE Racism Advocates for Fair Housing Goals to be Incorporated in Sandy Relief

John Mitty Thursday, January 31, 2013

Long Island, New York January 31, 2013

In the aftermath of Sandy, ERASE Racism, a NY civil rights non-profit, partnered with the Fair Share Housing Center of New Jersey to advocate for fair housing goals to be incorporated into the Sandy Relief package. Together the organizations drafted a letter for New York and New Jersey congressional delegations to ensure that fair housing laws were not waived for federal relief funds that would be used to build housing. The letter also called for measures to ensure that low-income residents and communities of color were properly served by FEMA and CDBG funds post- Sandy. Additionally the organizations used the opportunity to advocate for an increase in the Low Income Housing Tax Credits used to build affordable housing for the NY/NJ region. With only a matter of days to draft the letter and recruit others to sign on to the letter, ERASE Racism and the Fair Share Housing Center of NJ gathered the support of 77 signatories, which included Long Island organizations ranging from local non-profits to business groups.

On Tuesday, January 15th, after several weeks of lobbying by political leaders in states across the Northeast, the House of Representatives approved a long-awaited $50.7 billion emergency bill to provide help to victims of Hurricane Sandy.

ERASE Racism will continue to work with other fair housing advocates and concerned citizens to ensure that the relief money does not exacerbate our already severe racial segregation on Long Island and also that low- and moderate-income residents are fairly included as relief recipients.

jmitty@longislandyellowpages.com

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