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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCF Habitat Fair Housing Policy Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity Affirmative Marketing Plan I. HUD requirement As required by HUD, Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity adopts the affirmative marketing procedures and requirements for all Habitat homes. II. Policy on Nondiscrimination and Accessibility With respect to the treatment of applicants, the Affiliate shall not discriminate against any individual or family because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, familial status or presence of children in a household. Reasonable accommodations shall be offered to all disabled persons who request accommodations due to disability at any time during the applicat ion and homeowner selection process. III. Training A. The Affiliate shall provide all affiliate staff with all relevant regulations and Fair Housing provisions. All Homeowner Services staff and volunteers, Homeowner Services Committee, and Board members shall be required to follow the procedures and policies adopted by the Affiliate. B. The Affiliate shall provide on-site training programs, including marketing, outreach, data collection, reporting, and record keeping. All Homeowner Services staff and volunteers, Homeowner Services Committee and Board members shall annually receive training and updates regarding fair housing laws and the Affiliate’s Affirmative Marketing Plan. IV. Marketing and Outreach A. All materials for public distribution (including but not limited to the homeownership application packet, flyers, brochures and website) shall display the Equal Housing Opportunity logo or the Equal Housing Opportunity Clause. B. Consistent with the resident population of the Affiliate’s Geographical Service Area, the marketing of all Habitat homes, shall ensure equal access to homeownership opportunities for all persons in any category protected by federal, state, and local laws governing discrimination. C. Special marketing outreach consideration shall be given to the following underserved populations: o African-American o Hispanic o People with Disabilities o Veteran o We will make an effort to seek organizations with a connection to American Indians and Asians/ Pacific Islanders o Seniors D. Marketing shall include the use of daily newspapers of general circulation in Wilmington (and the Cape Fear region). The Homeowner Services staff, through the Development staff of Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity, will send Public Service Announcements to newspapers, television, radio, specialized publications, and newsletters to reach potential homeowners. Applications, notices, and all publications shall include the Equal Housing Opportunity Clause or logo and the Accessibility Logo. Media advertisement of the projects will be sent to the following local publications: Newspapers Star News Pender-Topsail Post & Voice Wilmington Journal Greater Wilmington Business Journal Lumina News Duplin Times Port City Daily Magazines Wrightsville Beach Magazine Wilma Magazine Social Media Facebook Instagram LinkedIn TV WWAY ABC WECT NBC WSFX Fox WILM CBS Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity’s Website E. The Homeowner Services staff, and other appropriate Affiliate staff identified by the HOS Director, shall contact local civic and community organizations that are representative of the ethnic and cultural diversity of the area in order to disseminate information about homeownership opportunities provided by the Affiliate. The Homeowner Services staff, and other appropriate Affiliate staff identified by the HOS Director, shall also contact organizations representing people with disabilities and the elderly. The Affiliate shall publish its marketing materials in Spanish, as well as English, in order to better reach potential applicants in the area who have language limitations. . Name of Organization Population Served a. Disability Resource Center People with Disabilities b. United Way Seniors c. Cape Fear Latinos Latinx d. New Hanover County Veterans’ Services Veterans e. Pender County Veterans’ Services Veterans f. NC National Guard Family Programs Veterans g. New Hanover County Veterans Council Veterans h. Disabled American Veterans Veterans, People with Disabilities i. AARP Seniors j. City of Wilmington All k. NHC Office of Diversity and Equity All l. The Harrelson Center All m. NHC Disaster Coalition All n. Pender Long Term Recovery Group All o. Duplin County Disaster Recovery Group All F. The Homeowner Services staff, and other appropriate affiliate staff identified by the HOS Director, shall contact other neighborhood-based, non-profit housing organizations that maintain waiting lists or make referrals for below-market-rate housing. Agency Name Address Telephone # a. Wilmington Housing Authority 1524 S, 16th Street Wilmington, NC 28401 910-341-7700 b. WARM 5058 Wrightsville Ave. Wilmington, NC 28401 910.399.7563 c. City of Wilmington 102 North Third Street - Post Office Box 1810 Wilmington, North Carolina 28402-1810 910.341.7800 d. New Hanover County Community Development 230 Government Center Suite 110 Wilmington, NC 28403 910- 798-7165 e. Pender Housing Authority 805 S. Walker St. Burgaw, NC 28425 910-259-1208 V. Race and Ethnic Data Collection and Reporting A. Anyone who requests it shall receive an Application Package containing the following: Program Criteria, Instruction sheet; Application; (Homeowner Applicant Voluntary Information form (Insert of HFHI application) 1. The Affiliate shall offer each requestor the opportunity to complete the Application. 2. The Affiliate shall provide each applicant with assistance in completing the application. 3. The Affiliate shall explain the following to each applicant: o The laws prohibiting non-discrimination of applicants o The rights provided by the law against discrimination of applicants o That the Affiliate is required by federal law to collect homebuyer applicants’ demographic data for record-keeping purposes o That the applicant has the discretion of deciding whether to complete the Homeowner Applicant Voluntary Information form (Insert of HFHI application) o That no one involved with homeowner selection will have access to the forms or other demographic data of any applicant 4. Once the Affiliate receives the completed application, the Homeowner Services staff shall detach the Homeowner Applicant Voluntary Information form (Insert of HFHI application) from the application form and place it in a file where no one involved in the homeowner selection process has access. 5. On an annual basis, the Homeowner Services staff shall gather all the Homeowner Applicant Voluntary Information forms (Insert of HFHI application) and use them to compile the data for the HUD-27601 Race and Ethnic Data Reporting Form for inclusion in the SHOP Monitoring Binder. B. Amy Davis, Director of Homeowner Services, shall serve as Coordinator for the CFHH Affirmative Marketing Plan. VI. Compliance Assessment A. The Affiliate shall review the Affirmative Marketing Plan every five years and update it as needed to ensure compliance with the law. The Affiliate shall include advertising sources in the review to determine if past sources should be changed or expanded. B. The Affiliate shall annually assess the success of affirmative marketing actions for all HFH homes. If the demographic data of the applicants and homeowners vary by 25% from Affiliate’s Geographical Service Area population data, the Affiliate shall target advertising efforts and outreach to under-represented populations in an attempt to balance the applicants and homeowners with the demographics of the GSA. VII. Record Keeping A. The Homeowner Services staff shall establish and maintain an Affirmative Marketing file to hold advertisements, flyers, and other public information documents to demonstrate that the appropriate logo and language are used. Additionally, the Homeowner Services Staff shall keep records of the Affiliate’s activities in implementing the Affirmative Marketing Plan, including other community outreach efforts and the affiliate’s annual analysis. B. The Homeowner Services staff shall keep up-to-date records based on census data, applications, and surveys about community residents, applicants, homeowners and records about homeowner selection or rejection. C. The Affiliate shall place a copy of the above files, records and related documentation in the SHOP Monitoring Binder and maintain it until such time as HFHI has notified the Affiliate in writing regarding the disposal date. D. The Affiliate shall provide HUD, its Inspector General, HFHI and any duly authorized representative with access to any and all pertinent books, documents, papers or other records of the Affiliate’s SHOP- assisted properties, as necessary, for determining compliance with civil rights and non -discrimination requirements.