As the seasons change and many things feel uncertain right now, our commitment to protecting your fair housing rights remains steadfast. If you think you have experienced housing discrimination or have questions about your housing rights, The Fair Housing Center is here for you. Our team will help you to understand and exercise your rights, so that you can access fair and equitable housing opportunities, free from discrimination. Contact our advocates today to get the help you need!



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Housing Mobility 2026 Conference

Earlier this month, our mobility team attended Mobility Works' Housing Mobility 2026 conference in Downtown Cleveland! The two-day event brought attendees together to build community, deepen their expertise, and intensify the collective commitment to self-determination and choice for low-income families. 

Our Mobility Program Director, Michael Lepley, led a session on trauma-informed pre-move mobility services, shedding light on the importance of mental health considerations in the context of mobility service delivery. 

To learn more about the Cuyahoga Community Choice Demonstration and how our team is working to expand housing opportunities for program participants, visit cuyahogamobility.org. 

New Staff Spotlight

Please join us in welcoming our newest staff member, Tisha Barnes, to the team!

Tisha joined The Fair Housing Center in 2026 and primarily provides part-time administrative support to the mobility program. She is a technical and administrative professional with diverse industry experience across higher education, telecommunications, and food access organizations.

Tisha is passionate about community wealth building, equitable development, and resident-led solutions to housing challenges. She currently co-organizes and facilitates voluntary working groups focused on creating retail cooperatives and quality, affordable, intergenerational housing cooperatives in the Larchmere and Shaker Square neighborhoods. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Economic Development from Cleveland State University.

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ICYMI: September Housing & Community Development Forum on Advancing a Lead-Safe Cleveland

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our recent Housing & Community Development Forum, Advancing a Lead Safe Cleveland: Policy, Public Health, and What’s Ahead.

This webinar explored Cleveland’s ongoing efforts to prevent childhood lead poisoning and advance lead-safe housing through policy, implementation, enforcement, and community partnership. Featuring Rebecca Maurer, Senior Advisor for Lead Accountability for the City of Cleveland, and Dr. David Margolius, Director of the Cleveland Department of Public Health, the discussion provided an update on the City’s lead safety strategy, progress under Cleveland’s Lead Safe Certification law, and the continued challenges of addressing lead hazards in an older housing market. With Hazel Remesch, Director of State and Local Policy for Ohio at Enterprise Community Partners as moderator, the panelists discussed the public health impacts of lead exposure, the status of local implementation efforts, proposed legislative and administrative improvements, and progress toward a lead-safe Cleveland.

If you missed the conversation, the full recording is now available on The Fair Housing Center's YouTube channel!

Join us for an Upcoming Event!

ICYMI: News You Should Know About

• HUD Is Trying to Make Fighting Housing Discrimination Harder | Shelterforce
• The Next Fight for Fair Housing Is Online | Time
• Fair housing construction accessibility complaints now have a deadline, HUD says | Smart Cities Dive
• You’ve Returned After Incarceration, Can YOU Avoid Going Back? – A Reentry Simulation | Cleveland Metro Bar Association
• Federal Judge Blocks HUD Funding Changes | The New York Times
• One less shelter this winter: Metanoia says it can’t afford to open | cleveland.com
• How HUD’s Own Research Shows Wells Fargo Probe Will Stifle Black Progress | Emerald Book
• Civil rights groups say private listings threaten equal access to housing | Housing Wire
• An out-of-state group owns more than 150 homes in Cleveland. They're 79% vacant. | News 5 Cleveland
• Out-of-town investor called out for inaction on 150-home portfolio| Crain's Cleveland Business
• Study: Vacancy, violations among investor's 153 Cleveland homes | Signal Cleveland

Thank You for Supporting Fair Housing

Your support makes this work possible. We would like to recognize and thank our top donors of the past quarter for their generous support of fair housing work:

• Eileen Burkhart
• Hélène Caniac
• Diane Citrino
• Cheryl Davis
• Jonathan Entin
• The Fisher Family Fund
• Laura Fogarty
• Allison Kretz
• CARLETON MOORE!
• Carrie Pleasants
• Carole Rendon
• Mark Salling
• Nolan Stevens
• Kirk Stewart
• Gerald Swartz
• Abigail Warren

Are you a supporter of fair housing who is interested in taking the next step and becoming a donor? Visit www.thehousingcenter.org/give to learn how you can support fair housing!

About Fair Housing Center for Rights & Research

The Fair Housing Center for Rights & Research (The Fair Housing Center) is a nonprofit fair housing organization whose mission is to protect and expand fair housing rights, eliminate housing discrimination, and promote integrated communities. The Fair Housing Center has been in existence for 35 years, beginning as the Metropolitan Strategy Group in 1983.

The federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibits discrimination in the sale or rental of a dwelling on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or disability. The purpose of the law is to eliminate housing discrimination and promote residential integration.

For more information visit www.thehousingcenter.org.