The Kalamazoo City Commission is expected to meet tonight, February 24, to discuss a proposed ordinance that is aimed at addressing structural racism and inequality in housing.
The Kalamazoo City Commission is expected to meet tonight, February 24, to discuss a proposed ordinance that is aimed at addressing structural racism and inequality in housing.
The city shared that Truth Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Kalamazoo and the Interfaith Strategy for Advocacy and Action (ISAAC) collaborated on the proposal.
TRHT Kalamazoo, hosted by the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, is a community-based movement to bring about transformational and sustainable change to address the historic and contemporary effects of racism. Kalamazoo is one of four TRHT sites in Michigan funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. CMF serves as the coordinator of the Michigan TRHT initiative.
According to the city, the proposed ordinance would:
Eliminate blanket housing rejections for any demographic.
Include new protections for people who have been released from the justice system or use housing vouchers or county I.D. cards.
Regulate rental housing application fees.
Establish a civil rights board to review cases of discrimination.
"Homelessness and affordability are central to the dialogue around housing in our community but a key issue related to this is discrimination," Sholanna Lewis, director of TRHT Kalamazoo at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation said. "If we don't address these systemic issues, people in our community will continue to be at risk of experiencing homelessness and housing instability."
In 2018 the Government Alliance on Racial Equity (GARE) awarded a grant to community partner organizations in Kalamazoo through the Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR) to engage the community and collect data to better understand housing issues. The city says the data collected by TRHT Kalamazoo, the City of Kalamazoo, MDCR, ISAAC Kalamazoo Housing Task Force and the Fair Housing Center of Southwest Michigan through the GARE work “strongly supports the concerns addressed in this ordinance.”
According to the city, if the ordinance is adopted, it would be the first major change to address barriers to housing in the city since protections were added in 2009 for gender identity and sexual orientation.
The city commission is expected to host its work session tonight at 6 p.m.
“We are encouraging the community to come and share their voice of support and influence on the proposed ordinance changes expanding access to housing in Kalamazoo,” TRHT Kalamazoo shared on its Facebook page.
Want more?
Learn more about TRHT.
Connect with TRHT Kalamazoo.
Check out some of our previous coverage:
Police Academy Engages in Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Cultural Awareness Experience
