April is Fair Housing Month, celebrating the passage of the landmark Fair Housing Act in 1968. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability and familial status. However, many individuals in our community still face housing discrimination due to their legal system involvement.   

At Fortune, we believe that access to housing is a fundamental right and a necessary part of rebuilding after incarceration. To ensure participants have access to safe and affordable housing, we offer emergency, transitional and permanent housing at our congregate facilities. To further combat housing discrimination, our Housing Advocate, Tabber Benedict, supports individuals who have faced barriers to housing due to their legal-system involvement.   

Tabber’s work addresses discrimination by directly assisting participants, pushing for legislative change and investigating relevant cases to uncover discriminatory policies.

Tabber has noted several examples of housing discrimination that justice-impacted people may face, and this discrimination is often overlapping. Participants have approached Tabber with concerns about the lack of affordable housing in New York City, income discrimination for those with housing vouchers and being denied or ghosted after completing a background check.   

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a 2022 memo recognizing access to safe and affordable housing as a “critical prerequisite to health, safety, education, jobs, and the economy.” They disallow providers from denying housing based on arrest records or blanket bans against people with conviction histories. Unfortunately, some housing providers continue to maintain discriminatory policies.   

Last year, the federal district court directed entry of judgment against iAfford, who conceded that they violated fair housing and human rights laws by excluding people with justice involvement from accessing affordable housing in New York City. A Fortune participant reached out to Tabber for support after his housing application was denied after pre-screening.   

“He had a job plus additional income to pay for rent, and a housing specialist at Fortune applied on his behalf. They denied him purely based on a complete blanket ban against people with legal system involvement.”   

Fortune is also a member of the Fair Chance for Housing Steering Committee. After years of intense advocacy, the Fair Chance for Housing Act became law in New York City in January of this year. Now, Tabber is looking forward to the opportunity to educate justice-impacted New Yorkers about their rights and how this law can benefit them.    

“Enforcement of this law will allow us to combat housing discrimination. The hope is that the Fair Chance for Housing law will allow us to educate the community. I also hope it will give us the opportunity to work with the Human Rights Commission and the city to weed out this type of discrimination moving forward.”   

Fortune’s goal is to empower participants through affordable and supportive housing. Tabber’s advocacy and legal assistance, and our organization’s housing specialists and providers, offer support that helps participants effectively rebuild after incarceration.