Friends of Fair Housing - Toledo Fair Housing Center

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Friends of Fair Housing
Vol. 13 Issue 2 • Spring 2012
Quarterly Newsletter for the Friends of Fair Housing
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Announced at April Luncheon
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432 N. Superior St.
Toledo, OH
43604-1416
419/243-6163
Fax: 419/243-3536
(800) 248-2840
(419 area only)
www.toledofhc.org
n April 26, 2012, approximately 120 people came together in celebration of Fair Housing
Month. The day began with a continuing education class on Fair Housing Advertising for
Realtors®, followed by the Spirit of Fair Housing Awards Luncheon.
Mr. John Zimmerman, Vice President of the
Miami Valley Fair Housing Center in Dayton,
traveled to Toledo to instruct the morning class.
Three awardees were honored during the luncheon
program. Proclamations from the City of Toledo and
Lucas County were presented in recognition of Fair
Housing Month and the honorees.
Ms. Darlene Sweeney-Newbern received the
Shanna L. Smith Spirit of Fair Housing Award for her
dedication to equal housing opportunities through
her leadership of the Toledo Regional Office of the
From Left: FHC Board President & Chair, Marshall
Ohio Civil Rights Commission. The Shanna L.
Rose; Award Recipient A. Bailey Stanbery; Award
Smith Award is named in honor of the Center’s first
Recipient Darlene Sweeney-Newbern; FHC President
Executive Director. Ms. Smith is now the President
& CEO, Katherine Lawson Broka.
and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance.
Mr. Bailey Stanbery received the Housing
Development Award.
His company constructs
homes in the City of Toledo, including affordable,
quality homes in urban neighborhoods.
Ms. Sue Sekel received the Access Award. Ms.
Sekel is a former employee of the Fair Housing
Center and has expanded access to housing through
investigations of housing discrimination complaints
and as a tester.
Continued on page 2
From Left: FHC CEO, Katherine Broka; FHC
VP, Michael Marsh; Miami Valley FHC VP, John
Zimmerman; and FHC Board President & Chair,
Marshall Rose.
The awards were created by local glass artist, KC St. John.
Lorna Gonsalves, Ph.D. (back right) with her students
(seated) and their chaperones, recited poetry, “The Cold
Within” and “The Force Within,” while the students
enacted the poems during the luncheon program.
Friends of Fair Housing
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Volume 13
Issue 2
Katherine Lawson Broka
President & CEO
Michael P. Marsh, CFRE
Vice President, Development &
Public Relations
Officers
Marshall Rose . . . . . . . Board President
and Chair
Julia Bryant . . . Second Vice President
John Widmer . . . . . . . . . . . . Secretary
Ann Hornstein . . . . . . . . . . . Treasurer
Directors
Nellie Edwards
Lisa Dubose
Louis Escobar
Sarah J. Hong
Maria King
Megan Meyer-Foos
Christopher Mitchell
Linda Moye, CPA
Maria “Lupe” Siewert
Ernest Walker, Jr.
Kevin Walker
The Friends of Fair Housing Newsletter is
produced quarterly by The Fair Housing
Center of Toledo, 432 N. Superior St.,
Toledo, OH 43604-1416.
of Life for
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Building Diverse Communities
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Friends of Fair Housing
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Friends of
Fair Housing
April Fair Housing Luncheon Continued from page 1
The Center is grateful to the participants
and the sponsors who contributed over
$12,000. April is named Fair Housing
Month because the federal Fair Housing
Act was passed on April 11, 1968, one
week to the day after the assassination of
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Emcee Chrys Peterson, from WTOL
Channel 11 with FHC VP, Michael
Marsh.
FHC Board President & Chair,
Marshall Rose presents the Shanna L.
Smith Spirit of Fair Housing Award
to Darlene Sweeney-Newbern of the
Ohio Civil Rights Commission.
Special Thanks to Our
April Luncheon Sponsors
Benefactor $1,500
Fifth Third Bank
Northern Ohio Investment Company
Toledo Board of REALTORS®
Contributor $1,000
Key Bank
Lucas Metropolitan Housing Authority
Owens Corning Foundation
Sponsor $500
Advocates for Basic Legal Equality/Legal Aid of
Western Ohio
Butler Capital Advisors
Danberry Company Realtors
Huntington Bank
Mosley, Fundt, Glick & DeMarco
PNC Bank
ReMax Preferred Associates
Signature Bank
Friends
Waterford Bank ($250)
C. Thomas McCarter ($100)
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Toledo Fair Housing Center hosts
Community HeARTbeats Exhibition
uring Fair Housing Month (April), the Center unveiled an art exhibit, “The Community HeARTbeats
Program” that will remain in the building at 432 N.
Superior for the foreseeable future. “The Community HeARTbeats Program” is an initiative of Human Values
for Transformative
Action, founded by
Lorna
Gonsalves,
Ph.D. Dr. Gonsalves
installed the art exhibit in the FHC
building;
assisted
with a theatrical presentation at the Spirit of Fair Housing
Awards Luncheon;
and is overseeing a
permanent art installation in the Center’s
Board Room, also
located at 432 N.
Superior.
Since the Spring of 2006, Human Values for Transformative
Action, a northwest Ohio non-profit organization, has
initiated listening and learning sessions with over 500 youth in
Toledo’s urban areas. “The very first sessions were organized
Gonsalves explains. She continues, “While these youngsters
value traditional programs that prepare them to pass exams,
obtain jobs, and stay out of trouble, they also express the
urgent need for grassroots initiatives through which they can
gather together to share stories, speak about their pain, discuss
their dreams, and devise strategies for inspiring individual and
community transformation.”
“The Community HeARTbeats Program” art exhibit features
smaller-scale reproductions of larger-scale murals informed by
the youth and created by local artists. “This exhibition is
reflective of the work we do in fair housing and foreclosure
prevention,” explains Michael P. Marsh, the Center’s Vice
President of Development and Public Relations. “Take for
example the pieces entitled, ‘Rising Above Bigotry’ and
‘Journey Towards Hope.’ They are reflective of the efforts
of our agency to help individuals and families who have been
discriminated against overcome the pain and humiliation,
while looking to a brighter tomorrow,” adds Mr. Marsh.
The general public is welcome to stop by the building
during normal business hours of Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m.
– 5:00 p.m. to view the art exhibit. “The response from
clients who come to the building has been very positive,”
states Mr. Marsh.
to help young people to process their feelings after a Neo
Nazi group intruded into their communities. Other sessions
across the city have brought us face-to-face with remarkable
young people who have shared their anger and pain as well as
their hopes for building stronger and safer communities,” Dr.
Restoring the Dream
Predatory Lending Remediation
Program Update
• 392 Loans remediated through April 30, 2012
• Over $11.7 million in monetary benefits (averaging
$45,877 per household)
• Average reduction in monthly payment = $260.66
• Average interest rate reduction = 4.29%
Friends of Fair Housing
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Long Time FHC Supporter Charles Hawk
Retires from Westfield Insurance
FHC Vice President of Development and Public Relations (left) and
CEO Katherine Broka (right) traveled to Westfield Center, Ohio on
April 24th to attend the retirement reception for Charles Hawk. Mr.
Hawk retired after 10 years of service to Westfield Insurance as their
Community Relations Manager. Mr. Hawk is pictured here with his
wife, Eve. The Center thanks Mr. Hawk for the numerous trips he
made to Toledo to attend our events and for the generous donations
Westfield Insurance made to FHC’s programs.
FHC VP Michael Marsh, Akron Fair Housing CEO Vince
Curry and FHC CEO Kathy Broka at the retirement reception
for Charles Hawk, a long-time supporter of fair housing.
Miami Valley FHC Fair Housing Month Event in Dayton
From Left: Toledo FHC President/CEO, Katherine Broka; President/CEO
Indianapolis Fair Housing, Amy Nelson; Connecticut Fair Housing President/CEO, Erin Kemple; Miami Valley Fair Housing President/CEO, Jim
McCarthy; and Toledo FHC Vice President, Michael P. Marsh.
From Left: Toledo FHC VP, Michael Marsh; Miami Valley CEO,
Jim McCarthy; Keynote Speaker, Patrice Ficklin with the US
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Office of Fair Lending;
and Toledo FHC CEO, Katherine Broka.
Bloggers Focus on National Fair Housing Alliance
Investigation of Real Estate Owned (REO) Properties
News has spread far and wide about the REO investigation
by the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) and several
of its members, along with NFHA’s HUD complaints against
Wells Fargo and US Bank over their discriminatory treatment
of foreclosed homes in communities of color. This work is
the focus of a new blog series, in which a variety of bloggers
are reflecting and expanding on the issues highlighted by
NFHA’s REO work. This blogging collaboration is part of a
broader communications strategy addressing a range of issues
related to access to housing being sponsored by the Compact
for Home Opportunity/Home for Good Campaign, of
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Friends of Fair Housing
which NFHA is a part.
The blogs are cross-posted on Rooflines, the blog of the
magazine Shelterforce, and Race-Talk, the Kirwan Institute’s
blog. Contributors include Alan Jenkins of the Opportunity
Agenda; Jillian Olinger of the Kirwan Institute for the Study
of Race and Ethnicity at the Ohio State University; Debby
Goldberg of the National Fair Housing Alliance; Miriam
Axel-Lute of the National Housing Institute; Liz Ryan
Murray of National People’s Action; Janis Bowdler of the
National Council of La Raza, and Amy Clark of the National
Low Income Housing Coalition.