Today is the last day of 2008’s Fair Housing Month - looking back on our previous 7 updates you can get a sense of just how many folks were thinking about and working on fair housing issues this month. Let’s hope that this same energy and enthusiasm continues throughout the year.

We’ll be posting a reflection on the past month in a few days.

• Craig Gurian of the Anti-Discrimination Center of NYC and Fair Housing for All blogs about fair housing month at the American Constitution Society blog. Craig is currently working on some incredibly innovative litigation regarding Westchester County’s failure to affirmatively further fair housing in their administration of CDBG grants.
• The Preservation Compact and Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies released a new report this morning entitled “America’s Rental Housing: The Key to a Balanced National Policy” at a forum in Chicago. The report details the current foreclosure crisis and its impact on rental housing as well as provides recommendations for including rental housing in our current home-ownership-focused housing policy. One interesting tidbit: “According to a recent Joint Center for Housing Studies analysis, some 20.4 million - or 19 percent of all households - reported a change of residence between 2003 and 2005.”
• The Chicago Reporter investigates the intersection of geography, race, and asthma rates.
• The Illinois Department of Human Rights is hosting their Fair Housing Month event a bit late - on May 9th from 9:30am - 11:30am join them for “A Hidden Dimension of American Racism”, a presentation by Dr. James Lowen, author of Sundown Towns. RSVP to abdi.maya@illinois.gov. Note: valid picture ID required for access to building.
• The Knight Foundation announces that it “will invest $25 million to boost civic engagement by expanding digital access”.