Day 1 Recap

Dr. Daniel Enemark, San Diego Workforce Partnership and Ricardo Flores, LISC San Diego opened the confernece with a conversation on the history of fair housing in San Diego. Calling specific attention to policies and areas in the region that perpetuate housing discrimination practices.

In the afternoon, we heard from a panel on disability discrimination. Branden Butler, Department of Employment and Fair Housing; Josh Butler, Lanterman Housing Alliance; Erin Autry Montgomery, The Chelsea Investment Corporation; and Jessica Gould, Lanterman Housing Alliance. The panelists talked about their perspective of dealing with discrimination and working to create accessible housing to prevent disability discrimination.

Day 2 Recap

Dr. Zachary Green, UCSD gave a moving keynote teaching on bias and systemic racism and how it affects housing.

• “Racism racism is understood in millions of ways. It is seen each day, but is interpreted differently by respective people around our country and world.”

• “Systemic racism shows up in California from generational trauma and poverty, to mass incarceration, to academic inequality, which can all be linked to housing.”

• He challenged attendees to “disrupt the status quo.”

Rosalina Spencer, Legal Aid Society of San Diego moderated our afternoon discussion with three individuals about their housing obstacles. Each individual shared their experience housing discrimination and rental assistance. Spencer enlightened viewers that some landlords are hesitant to open their spaces and that discrimination still exists. The panel provided an impactful afternoon filled with both stories of inequality and also charges to make change.