Community

Westchester celebrates national Fair Housing Month

In recognition of the month of April as National Fair Housing Month, Westchester County Executive George Latimer is introducing a video series to discuss the importance of fair and affordable housing opportunities in Westchester.  Fair Housing Month celebrates the
passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, a national law that prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental or financing of housing based on race, religionor gender. The video series is designed to demystify the issues surrounding affordable housing, and explain the importance of furthering fair housing throughout Westchester County.

The video series is a product of the county’s Housing Needs Assessment from 2019, which called for a continued education on fair and affordable housing.  Since Latimer took office in 2018, the county has allocated millions  of dollars in each county budget to develop and
rehabilitate affordable housing units.  To date, more than 2,000 affordable housing units have been either built or occupied, went under construction or have their land use and funding in place to begin development.

“Every Westchester County resident deserves to have a safe, comfortable place to call home,” County Executive George Latimer said.  “Our responsibility as a County government is to make sure that the opportunity for fair and affordable housing is always there. That is why April is Fair Housing Month.   It doesn’t matter what demographic you may fall into, but we need to have a range of people and we need
to have them all living in this County. It is our job to make sure that housing is available, that it is fair and accessible for everybody, and that it is affordable.  This is about a critical need that people have, and we are helping people when we can get them into decent housing
that they can afford. That is why this is important to me.”

If you are interested in pursuing a fair and affordable rental or homeownership opportunity in Westchester, visit the county’s Homeseeker Website.  Homeseeker identifies the affordable housing units that are available based on location, and notifies those who qualify when
a new home becomes available.  For more information, contact the Westchester County Department of Planning at homeseeker@westchestergov.com.

(submitted)