Cloudburst Travels to Phoenix to Film NFHTA Relaunch Video

Last week, two members of the Cloudburst team traveled to Phoenix, Arizona, to interview fair housing practitioners and experts for a video we’re developing to celebrate the relaunch of HUD’s National Fair Housing Academy (NFHTA) in April. This video will highlight the history of fair housing and how it has changed over time; the importance of civil rights in fair housing; the importance of partners and collaboration between organizations; successes in fair housing; and how the training academy will affect fair housing in the future. Cloudburst captured personal and professional experiences and anecdotes from three long-standing fair housing practitioners who work for the City of Phoenix’s Equal Opportunity Department (EOD). They shared their perspectives on both past trends and the current landscape of housing discrimination and how to combat it both in Phoenix and across the country.

In order to collect these stories, we are interviewing HUD employees, members of Fair Housing Initiative Programs (FHIPs) and Fair Housing Assistance Programs (FHAPs), fair housing leaders, and those affected by fair housing violations in several locations across the United States. Once launched, the training academy will educate organizations who receive subsidies and federal funding from HUD, do investigative work into fair housing violations, and provide legal assistance in fair housing cases, providing them with a toolkit of resources and information.

We are honored that the City of Phoenix highlighted our work as we interviewed members of the EOD for this project. Their contributions to our video and to the work of fair housing are significant, and we appreciate their support and enthusiasm about this project. You can learn more about the EOD and why we’re interested in their work here: bit.ly/eod-news