Housing can have a huge impact on an individual’s quality of life—including the person’s physical and social health, access to community resources, and even employment. Historically, certain groups have encountered obstacles to housing, which led to the passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Fair Housing Month is celebrated nationally each April in observance of this legislation.

RMLS™ encourages your business to commemorate Fair Housing Month! Here are a few ideas on how to do so.

• Review how REALTORS® can play a part in creating positive, diverse neighborhoods during a regular brokerage meeting.
• Watch a few educational videos online about modern-day housing discrimination, including linguistic profiling.
• Take a fair housing quiz online!
• Read “The Air I Breathe,” a first-person account of growing up “tolerated and underestimated” in Portland, by Ifanyi Bell. This piece, which originally appeared in the Oregon Humanities quarterly last winter, has since received national attention.
• Charter or join a bus tour with Fair Housing Council of Oregon! The bus tour is highly recommended by all RMLS™ staff who have previously gone on the tour, and I’m hoping to make it myself this April.

And of course, you could also explore the resources from my Fair Housing Month blog post for RMLS™ in April 2014.