By. Joey Henderson
Greater Tampa REALTORS® (GTR) is proud to be an advocate of fair housing. On April 20, GTR virtually hosted its annual Focus on Fair Housing training and information session for Fair Housing Month.
We were honored to have representatives from the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County to update members on the challenges they have addressed and successes achieved regarding meeting the fair housing challenge. Planning and Reporting, Principal Planner Sabine von Aulock gave an overview for the County and Human Rights Investigator Naomi Candelaria, J.D. spoke on behalf of the city of Tampa.
Members in attendance participated in a deeper dive into the nuances of fair housing with the dynamic Instructor Gonzalo Mejia. Mr. Mejia who presented two continuing education (CE) classes that further explained the history, need and advocacy for fair housing practices. The 6CE classes were titled Be the Change – Fair Housing and You and Expanding Housing Opportunities.
Hosted by the Real Estate for All (Tampa Bay) Alliance (REFAA), participants also received an opportunity to learn more about and network with our REFAA partners. Officers of the respective groups included Caitlin Jones of the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance (The Alliance), Julie Yo of the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA), Nick Acosta of the National Association of Gay & Lesbian Real Estate Professionals (NAGLREP), Travis Brooks of the National Real Estate Brokers (NAREB), Leslie-Ann Pagan of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) and Kathryn Sakkis of the Women’s Council of REALTORS® (WCR). The commitment of these leaders and their members to advocate for fair housing is needed and contributes towards moving our industry to greater heights of fairness and equality.
The call to action for the attendees was to keep fair housing an integral part of their real estate practices. Participants were encouraged to broaden their awareness and understanding by attending other fair housing, diversity and equity trainings. Attendees were also encouraged to accept NAR President Charlie Oppler’s Fair Housing Challenge to all REALTORS® in a volunteer leadership positions at NAR to include committee members, liaisons, VPs, the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors and the Leadership Team. To learn more about this challenge, go to www.nar.realtor and search for the Fair Housing Challenge: Stand Up for Racial Equity. A couple of other resources you will find informative are:
- The People Will Commercial – be/I8drazYFZCc
- The 2018 Fair Housing Presentation http://www/- be/ iW_RfRV7PRk.
As NAR “continues to strengthen its commitment to fair housing in the real estate industry,” know that GTR is equally committed and looks forward to continuing providing the resources that help our members rise to excellence.
Joey Henderson is the Director of Community Affairs at Greater Tampa REALTORS®.
