CRC Newsletter | June 2021

Retreat from Comfort

By Dr. Scott Gartlan, CRC Member

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Remembrance Project is a coalition of local organizations and people committed to the Community Remembrance Project of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) in Montgomery, Alabama. The purpose of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Remembrance Project, in partnership with EJI’s nationwide remembrance project movement, is to expose and concretize the horrors of white supremacy and the legacy of racial terrorism. The work centers around the African American experience of racial injustice, works to empower African American community members who have directly borne this trauma, and invites the entire community to use truth to give voice to those experiences and explore their legacies. Our community must also do the difficult work and confront the history that continues to shape the present. Two documented racial terror lynchings in Mecklenburg County occurred: Joseph McNeely, August 26, 1913, and Willie McDaniel, June 30, 1929.

With this history and purpose in mind, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Remembrance Project Steering Committee met at the Belmont Center on Saturday, May 1 as part of a planning retreat — the first in-person meeting for this group in more than a year.

We kicked off the retreat with check-in questions about how we were doing in general, and about our commitment to this project. Each of the ten Steering Committee members shared personal and touching experiences and stories about their lives the past year. Some shared about the isolation of the pandemic, others reflected on the challenges of raising young children this school year or the excitement and anxiety of returning to in-person life. We all acknowledged how fortunate we and our families were to be in good health during a time when many are still dealing with the tragedies of the pandemic.

From there, everyone committed to support this Remembrance Project. While this group had been meeting regularly since a fall trip to Montgomery in 2018 to explore EJI’s new National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum, each Steering Committee member recommitted to this work by stating their commitment aloud. Maybe it was the experience of visiting the birthplace of Bryan Stevenson’s vision for justice on the May 2018 trip or the relationships that were established from the conversations and travel, but the force of spirit to see this project through has remained strong.

After the reaffirmation of commitment, we discussed the various ways this project aspires to engage the broadest possible community we can conceive. As an example of that engagement, local artist Hannah Hasan joined the retreat to read her poems written in remembrance of Mr. McNeely and Mr. McDaniel. We closed our eyes as Ms. Hasan’s words transported us to a place of deep reflection and beauty. It was somber and emotional, and yet there was a feeling of hope as eyes opened again. Ms. Hasan shared her process in writing these powerful poems as a journey through family and generations. She placed these men’s lives in a universal context, one that deepened the experience of knowing what happened to them. Her words helped center the project again in the lived and discomforting experience of the racial terror lynchings of Mr. McNeely and Mr. McDaniel.

This in-person meeting brought a fresh sense of community and renewed enthusiasm for our shared purpose and future goals. We look forward to working with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee and the broader community to actualize the vision of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Remembrance Project.

The Steering Committee is composed of individuals from local organizations including the Arts & Science Council, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee, Charlotte Teachers Institute, Community Building Initiative, Levine Museum of the New South, The Lee Institute, Race Matters for Juvenile Justice, UNC Charlotte, and community volunteers. Thanks to the hospitality of Willie Ratchford and his team at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations for hosting our group and for participating in the discussion.

Working to Reduce Evictions

By Justin Lyons, CRC Member

The COVID-19 pandemic upended many aspects of our lives, including many people’s ability to pay their rent during the last year. In its continued pursuit to prevent evictions in the local area, the City of Charlotte is participating in a national peer-to-peer program called The Eviction Prevention Learning Lab (EPLL).

This initiative is affording local officials the opportunity to network with other city officials and their partners to share best practices and tools to limit evictions. The City of Charlotte is one of 30 cities across 22 states that was accepted into the program. This sharing of resources, technical knowledge and partnerships offered through the EPLL is critical in 2021, with eviction a continued concern for local residents. Late last year, the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute estimated that more than 10,000 local households were at greatest risk of eviction.

“One of the important things we have learned is that Charlotte-Mecklenburg is not alone as we face unprecedented numbers of eviction filings,” reflected Mary Williams, Dispute Settlement Program Manager for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations. “Cities throughout the United States are creating, updating and revising their assistance programs to help both housing providers and tenants survive this difficult time.”

Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s Dispute Settlement and Fair Housing Assistance programs exist to ensure our community is free from housing discrimination and hostility. Through these programs, the City offers mediation to help landlords and tenants find a resolution when conflict arises. During the pandemic, both programs have seen an increase in requests for landlord-tenant mediation and fair housing complaints compared to previous years.

Despite an eviction moratorium and tens of millions of dollars in relief, local residents continue to face the difficult prospect of eviction. For many cities across the U.S., a lack of eviction data across the country is inconsistent, making it difficult to address the issue strategically. “Without knowing where evictions are occurring, who is most impacted by evictions, or if evictions are rising or falling, it is hard to target outreach to those most in need,” said Teresa Palacio, Fair Housing Manager for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations.

In North Carolina, the lack of consistency with legal guidance has led to municipalities handling situations differently. Additionally, the varying willingness of landlords to take on financial risk or accept the financial assistance offered to tenants has impacted outcomes. The cumulative and compounding impacts of these circumstances makes it difficult to quantify the true magnitude of the eviction situations here locally and across the county.

With these challenges front and center, the City is engaged in the EPLL program to help develop a broader ecosystem of productive relationships among tenants, landlords, courts and local stakeholders to help keep individuals and families in their places of residence where possible. City officials hope to build upon their current practices by taking their learnings from this experience to identify and integrate more interventions that will serve more residents effectively.

“COVID-19 has changed many things, but it hasn’t slowed the number of people moving to Charlotte or the construction of housing in Charlotte-Mecklenburg,” said Palacio. “If we want to be a city that continues to grow in a way that is fulfilling to both residents and investors, it is crucial that staff do everything we can to prevent evictions, and sometimes that means recognizing the benefit of learning from others.”

41st Annual Police-Community Relations Awards

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee (CRC) recently held the 41st Annual Police-Community Relations Awards. The awards program promotes and expresses the community’s appreciation to police officers who have made an outstanding contribution to the improvement of police-community relations. This year, the CRC also recognized three community leaders who have demonstrated their commitment to strengthening relationships between CMPD and the community through advocacy and innovation.

Click here to view the awards ceremony. Congratulations to all the recipients of this year’s award!

ICYMI: Fair Housing Month

By Adrienne Martinez and Laura Leftwich, CRC Members

On April 11, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act into law. In honor of that day and in remembrance of the civil rights work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., April is set aside as National Fair Housing Month. This year, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Department (CRD) held a full month of virtual events devoted to fair housing.

Fair housing, a right protected by law, helps remove barriers to entry for people who may otherwise have hurdles to accessing housing that is free from discrimination. It helps our community be a safer place to live and protects those who often need it and may not always know their rights. This education is also key for housing providers, who may not always realize how to comply with Fair Housing laws. Informing members of the Charlotte community about their rights when it comes to finding a safe and accessible place to live is hugely important to the Community Relations Department and the Community Relations Committee.

The CRD’s Fair Housing Assistance Program hosted and/or participated in the following events in an effort to inform the community of their fair housing rights:

• Fair Housing Conference: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Fair Housing
• Fair Chance Housing Training: Criminal Background and Housing Discrimination
• Fair Housing campaign in Spanish, which included fair housing information for tenants provided on Latina 102.3 FM as well print in Hola News
• Taller en Línea: Protecciones contra Discriminación en Viviendas, an online fair housing workshop in Spanish for tenants, partnered with Legal Aid of NC and the Fair Housing Project
• Fair Housing 101 and Emerging Issues with Keller-Williams
• Fair Housing 101 and Emerging Issues with Atrium Health
• Fair Housing 101 and Emerging Issues with the Community Relations Committee
• Avoiding Fair Housing Pitfalls, Best Practices for Qualifying Prospective Residents, fair housing webinar with the Greater Charlotte Apartment Association

These were possible through the support of partners at Atrium Health, Legal Aid of NC, LGBTQ+ Democrats of Charlotte-Meck, and Reentry Housing Alliance. There were over 12 hours of press, content, and events to spread the importance and access of information for fair housing that were attended by hundreds of people.

This issue is important to the committee year-round, not just in April. For more information on free housing or the events, please reach out to anyone on the committee or read more at https://charlottenc.gov/crc/ServicesPrograms/Pages/FairHousing.aspx.

Community Spotlight: Reentry Housing Alliance

By Adrienne Martinez, CRC Member

A criminal history is generally unrelated to the ability of persons experiencing homelessness to succeed in supportive housing. Yet unfortunately, many landlords and property owners overlook the advantages of renting to people with criminal records. Not having a home is traumatic. And until “out here” is better than “in there,” there will be a risk of recidivism.

The mission of the Reentry Housing Alliance (RHA) is simple: Housing for all. RHA believes housing is a human right. This network of reentry service organizations, non-profits, the faith community, and neighbors are focused on informing property owners on reentry obstacles and advocating for housing policy changes benefiting people with records. Individuals with records and their families can access supportive services and connect to community-based support to establish a stable lifestyle, thereby reducing the chance of recidivism and increasing their successful journey.

Here are a few more critical ways RHA is working toward housing justice:

• RHA has developed a “housing rights and responsibility” curriculum with the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office to be offered at the County Detention Center.
• RHA is also working directly with government officials and community leaders to change local housing policy through initiatives such as a ‘Fair Chance’ Housing Policy.
• RHA implemented a transitional housing program to help place people with records and their families. If you or someone you know is looking for housing resources in the Charlotte metro area and have a criminal record, RHA may be able to help.

In 2016, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued guidance that landlords who refuse to rent to all tenants with criminal records may violate the Fair Housing Act. Technically, criminal history is not a protected class under the federal act (the protected classes are race, color, national origin, religion, sex, family status and disability). However, HUD’s 2016 guidance said that because African Americans and Latinos are incarcerated at rates disproportionate to their share of the overall population, refusing to rent to people with criminal records has a disparate impact on those minority groups. The Fair Housing Act applies when renting, buying, or securing financing for any housing.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations has been working with RHA to push for more education and outreach to the community in an effort to encourage more people to come forward and submit a complaint when they feel they have been discriminated against in their housing application process.