By Bob Katzen
Gov. Maura Healey announced the awarding of $1 million from the first Fair Housing Trust Fund to seven organizations working to eliminate housing discrimination and expand access to fair housing protections across the Bay State.
Supporters said the awards will support enforcement, education, outreach, testing, legal advocacy, language access, fair housing planning and innovative projects to address emerging forms of housing discrimination. They noted that these grants are the first awards made through the state’s Fair Housing Trust Fund and come as the federal government has retreated from fair housing enforcement, making state leadership more important than ever.
“Massachusetts is hustling to build more homes in every region, but we need to also make sure that every resident has a fair chance to access it,” said Gov. Healey. “At a time when the Trump Administration is stepping back from fair housing enforcement, Massachusetts is stepping up to protect residents from discrimination and expand access to housing. These first Fair Housing Trust Fund awards will help organizations across our state continue the important work of making housing more fair, accessible and equitable for everyone.”
“Housing affordability and fair housing must go hand in hand,” said Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities Juana Matias. “As we work to increase housing supply across Massachusetts, we must also ensure that residents know their rights, housing providers understand their responsibilities and discrimination is identified and addressed. These awards are directly informed by what we heard from residents, advocates, service providers and local leaders during our Fair Housing Regional Listening Sessions. They will strengthen fair housing infrastructure, improve language access and help communities address both longstanding and emerging barriers to housing.”