Hampton Roads Regional Fair Housing Training
for Homeless Service Providers
July 29, 2010
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Brought to you by the South Hampton Roads Regional Task Force on Ending Homelessness in partnership with the Virginia PATH Program

Why:
Understanding Fair Housing, especially how it applies to reasonable accommodations and the acquisition and retention of housing is a critical training area for staff in programs that serve those experiencing homelessness. Fair Housing laws and especially reasonable accommodations can be complicated areas for staff in programs to understand as well as implement in their work.

Who Should Attend:
This event should be attended by staff working in shelter, transitional housing, and permanent housing that serve persons who are or were formerly homeless – as well as those who assist persons in preventing or ending homelessness. PATH, HPRP, and Continuum of Care funded programs should seriously consider sending staff.

Eligibility:
In order to be eligible to attend this event, attendees must be employed in a program that provides homeless services or housing for residents who were formerly homeless. Only programs in the Hampton Roads area are eligible. Also, staff from any PATH program in Virginia is eligible.

Event Information:
When:               July 29, 2010 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. – registration begins at 8:00 a.m.
Where:             Norfolk Waterside Marriott (Downtown Norfolk)
                        235 E. Main Street
                        Norfolk, Virginia 23510
                        Local hotel phone: 757-627-4200
                        http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/orfws-norfolk-waterside-marriott/

The training will begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. and there are many documents and resources for review. Please plan to arrive no later than 8:30 a.m. and account for traffic delays.

The training is free and will include coffee and healthy snack in the morning, lunch, and an afternoon treat.

Dress comfortably and in layers. It may be very hot outside and very cool in the hotel.

Hotel: If you are traveling in for the event and would like to stay in the hotel the evening prior to the training, the Norfolk Marriott has held a block of 25 rooms for $99 plus tax. To acquire one of these rooms, call the hotel directly and ask for a room in the block for the Fair Housing Training on July 29th. If these block rooms sell out or you prefer to stay in another hotel, the best resource for downtown hotels is: http://www.downtownnorfolk.org/enjoy/lodging

Parking: Parking Downtown is mostly available in garages. Street parking is metered and limited to 2 hour increments, thus not conducive to this event. Waterside Garage is attached to the hotel on the second level North East side, thus the best choice. Rate: $12.00 for the day. Link to Waterside Garage: http://www.norfolk.gov/Parking/Garage_Waterside.asp

If you have questions/issues you want to be sure are covered, email them no later than July 25th with subject line “Fair Housing Topic” to sarah.fuller@norfolk.gov

Registration Information

Name:  

Title:

Organization/Agency Affiliation, if, any:

Mailing Address:

City: State: Zip Code:

Phone: Email:

Vegetarian meal required?: yes no

Pursuant to the American with Disabilities Act, do you require specific needs relating to the following?(Please check all that apply and someone will contact you to verify your request):
Visual Impairment Hearing Impairment Mobility Concerns
Describe

In order to be eligible to attend this training, you must be a homeless service provider, oversee programs that address homelessness, or provide housing for persons who were formerly homeless.  Please indicate that you meet one or more of these criteria: Yes
No

Please indicate below the category you qualify for this training:
I am a PATH Provider in Virginia – Enter name of PATH program:
I am a homeless service provider (or work in a program that prevents or ends homelessness in Hampton Roads.

Registration for this event is limited and required. Registration has been extended until Monday, July 19 at 5pm. Notifications will be sent to those who registered and were accepted on July 19th. (Up to 2 PATH staff from each program are automatically eligible)

Biographical Statement of Michael Allen

Michael Allen is a partner in the civil rights law firm of Relman, Dane & Colfax, PLLC where his practice focuses on litigation under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and Americans with Disabilities Act. He joined the firm in June 2006, after 11 years of litigation and other advocacy on behalf of poor people and people with disabilities at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and a decade at Legal Services of Northern Virginia. Michael has litigated and lobbied at the federal and state levels, and appeared in national print and electronic media.  He is a 1979 graduate of Georgetown University, and received his law degree in 1985 from the University of Virginia. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Virginia. Michael has written, lectured and consulted widely on civil rights and NIMBYism.

Michael has developed and litigated a number of innovative cases, including:

• United States ex rel. Anti-Discrimination Center v. Westchester County, 495 F.Supp.2d 375 (S.D.N.Y. 2007)( County required to analyze race-based fair housing impediments as a condition of receiving federal funds); 668 F.Supp.2d 548 (S.D.N.Y. 2009) (construing the obligation to “affirmatively further fair housing”).
• National Fair Housing Alliance, et al. v. A.G. Spanos Construction Co., et al.,542 F.Supp.2d 1054 (N.D. Cal. 2008)(Havens continuing violation doctrine applies to FHA design and construction obligations)
• Overlook Mutual Homes v. Spencer, 666 F.Supp.2d 850, 2009 WL 3486364 (S.D.Ohio July 16, 2009)(emotional support dog could, without specialized training, qualify as reasonable accommodation under FHA)
• McNamara v. Ohio Bldg. Authority, --- F.Supp.2d ----, 2010 WL 1131448, (N.D.Ohio, March 19, 2010) (Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act can impose non-discrimination obligations on private entities).

His writing includes:

• Reconstructing Fair Housing, available at http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2001/pdf/fairhousing.pdf
• For the Rest of Their Lives: Seniors and the Fair Housing Act, available at http://www.bazelon.org/issues/housing/moreresources/articles/11-04iowalawreview.pdf 
• NIMBYism: Using the Fair Housing Act to Overcome Municipal Opposition, available at http://www.housingonline.com/Documents/TCA%20Issues/TCAaPriL2009.pdf