FHCRC Hosts 2017 Housing Conference for the Inland Empire

ALL>> On Thursday, April 27, the Fair Housing Council of Riverside County hosted its 2017 Housing Conference. The conference included community organizations, government officials, leaders, realtors, builders, developers, policymakers, housing providers, property managers, and community leaders from all over the Inland Empire. The topic of this year's conference was the future of housing in the Inland Empire. Some of the topics discussed were housing industry trends, innovative solutions, and fair housing and market updates. The conference explored the theme, "What will housing look like in the Inland Empire in 2025?" Mayor Rusty Bailey, Congressman Mark Takano (video), and Joseph Ortiz, Esq.. governor appointed-fair Employment and Housing Council, gave welcomes at the beginning of the event. Janet Green and Tony Mize, president and treasurer of the Fair Employment and Housing Council were also in attendance. Featured addresses were given by Frank Fuentes, National Vice President of Multicultural Lending New American Funding. Dr. Robert Kleinhenz, Director of Research/Economist also spoke at the event. Topics discussed included home ownership, financial literacy, fair housing issues, housings rules and regulations that affect HUD funded programs, and housing needs for special populations like veterans, the disabled and the homeless population. The event is expected to draw in more than 250 attendees. Organizations wishing to attend the event also received the opportunity to sign up for sponsorship, which included a display booth at the event and the promotion of said business on various social media pages. The Fair Housing Council of Riverside has recently just become a CA Bureau of Real Estate Certified provider of fair housing training. They also offered five continuing education credits that will go toward satisfying requirements for realtors, property managers and others in the housing industry. The closing keynote address was given by Jerrold Mayer, Director of the HUD office of Housing Counseling Outreach and Capacity Building. The event aimed to express the message that affordable housing creates stronger communities for both single- and multi-family units. Ways to eliminate and lower the cost of developing and building houses were also discussed. The purpose of the housing conference was to highlight the housing needs of certain Inland Empire communities. In doing this, community representatives and officials will be better equipped to help their respective communities.