GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The right to fair housing is a concern for many residents who attended a public hearing Sunday night on housing discrimination in Grand Rapids.
"Everyone should know fair housing and that is a daunting yet crucial task. Especially since so many struggle to find housing and good repair that's affordable and accessible, let alone housing that they should be able to freely choose," said one resident.
The Michigan Civil Rights Commission hosted the public hearing on housing discrimination to address the community's concerns. Sunday's meeting was the third of four fair housing based hearings that have taken place around Michigan.
"People have been coming to us and telling us about issues with having been able to rent a house that has access for them if they are handicapped, or if they have children. And some of them have had issues with the quality of their rentals, which means that we refer them to another state agency. What we are focused on is civil rights, access to housing," said Gloria Lara, chair of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission.
Nothing was resolved at the meeting but all the community's concerns were addressed by the board. One main point Grand Rapids residents raised was the concern over affordable housing.
"Grand Rapids, our median…according to Data USA is $55,000. However, in Grand Rapids, the average salary is $37,000. That's $17.81 an hour. That's well below the poverty level. Grand Rapids is a good place to be, however you need to be within those guidelines to afford it," said Gayle Harvey, housing chair of Michigan State Conference.
The chair of the board said the housing issues are the same across Michigan.
"We have the same issues all across the state, which is both good and bad. It's good, because we can actually by trying to solve some of these issues that affects everyone under state and expanding concerns having this these issues. The law, these issues are the same whether you're in an urban environment, in a suburban environment, or out in the rural environment," said Lara.
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