MEMPHIS FAIR HOUSING CONFERENCE LOOKS TO BUILD A COMMUNITY FOR ALL 

Gregory Bernard King SE Hub Director of HUD

"We are the police of fair housing," said Gregory Bernard King the Hub Director of the Civil Rights Office for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Southeast region. "The best of all possible worlds would be voluntary compliance," Mr. King said, "the only option we have to poor personal choices however is enforcement."

Mr. King was the luncheon speaker at the Memphis Fair Housing Conference hosted by the Fair Housing Alliance of Greater Memphis (FHAGM). At the conclusion of Mr. King's speech, HUD became the first partner of FHAGM working to educate the community and create "best practices" agreements to emphasize the importance of fair housing.

Jacqueline Cobbins of the Memphis Fair Housing Center opened the conference that included two sessions on "Strategies for Fair Lending" and "Housing for Persons with Disabilities." Local experts joined state authorities to alert attendees to the current trends in fair lending and fair housing.

The panel discussion on fair lending included:

• Clinton Vaughn of the FDIC and a member of FHAGM. 
  
• Roger Thomas from the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions.
  
• Margaret Barr-Myers, Attorney from the Memphis Fair Housing Center
  
• Lisa Reid of the Mortgage Bankers Association.
  
• Mary Wilder of the Memphis Area Community Reinvestment Organization.
  
• Jill Johnson from the Public Interest Research Group of Atlanta.
  

The panel working on Fair Housing for persons with disabilities was:

• Deborah Cunningham from the Memphis Center for Independent Living
  
• Tom Sullivan a Building Designer
  
• Robert Bright of the Tennessee Human Rights Commission in Knoxville
  

At the Reception, Rev. Kyles gives a moving reminder of the final day of Dr. M. L. King

President of The Fair Housing Alliance of Greater Memphis, Linda K. Reed is inviting all interested parties to join the alliance to help build a community that includes everyone. Ms. Reed closed the annual conference by signing the partnership agreement with HUD and Vice President of FHAGM Michael Yarber reminded attendees of the commitment shown by members involved from the beginnings of FHAGM.

Thursday, the evening before the Memphis Fair Housing Conference, a reception was held at the National Civil Rights Museum.  The reception was to welcome and greet Mr. Gregory King and to recognize April as Fair Housing month.

The reception was sponsored by the Mayor's Task Force on Fair Housing, the City of Memphis Department of Housing and Community Development, The Memphis Area Transit Authority, NCCJ Board Chair Dorothy Crook, the National Civil Rights Museum and the Fair Housing Alliance of Greater Memphis. 

-Tim Wheat