1988

Metro-Dade County’s Equal Opportunity Board (formerly the Fair Housing and Appeals Board) received a grant from U.S. HUD for the establishment and development of a private, non-profit fair housing center (Housing Opportunities Project for Excellence, Inc. (HOPE, Inc.). HOPE was the first, non-profit fair housing agency organized in the state of Florida.

1993

The owners of Tropicana Apartments paid $100,000 to settle a housing discrimination case filed by HOPE alleging that the apartment complex misrepresented the availability of apartments and denied rentals to African Americans.

1994

The owners of Hamlet Estates paid $3.39 Million to settle a housing discrimination case filed by HOPE and the Dept. of Justice, the largest settlement at that time ever proposed by a respondent in a fair housing case filed against a private market defendant.

1995

Beverly Hills Club Apartments paid $1.2 million to settle a housing discrimination case filed by HOPE and the U.S. Attorney’s office.

1995

HOPE conducted housing discriminations tests utilized in the filing of six lawsuits by the Depart. of Justice charging 11 housing complexes in Boca Raton and 2 in Kendall, Florida with engaging in a pattern of discrimination on the basis of race and familial status.

1995

HOPE launched a major assault on housing discrimination in South Florida with five lawsuits filed: Waterview Terrace Apartments in Hialeah (race); Patricia Tiemeyer, owner of a number of duplexes in Princeton, Florida (race); Morningside Apartments, in Coral Gables, Florida (race); Little Farm Mobile Court in Miami, Florida (familial status); Villa Mar Apartments in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (familial status).

1996

HOPE received funding from the Department of Justice to develop rental clinics and housing provider outreach programs in Kendall and Boca Raton, Florida. HOPE designed programs to provide the following: information about affordable housing opportunities,  education and counseling to African-Americans and other minority populations about the opportunities for renting and/or purchasing a home, the creation of a video presentation, and the presentation of fifteen informative clinics

1996

HOPE completed a housing discrimination survey in partnership with Florida International University’s Institute for Public Opinion Research. This would be the first Florida housing discrimination public opinion survey. Three hundred fifty-four Miami-Dade residents were asked to consider the issue of housing discrimination in their community. Fifty-four per cent believed housing discrimination to be a problem in Miami-Dade County.

1996

HOPE conducted a relocation project for Miami-Dade County Housing Agency, expedited the relocation of 411 families from the Musa Isle, Town Park and Larchmount Gardens developments that were scheduled for demolition. Provided (group & individual) counseling, transportation and post-move support (as required). The residents were successfully relocated using Section 8 vouchers or relocated to other Public Housing Units.

1996

HOPE executed an emergency relocation project, for the City of Miami, expedited the relocation of 109 families from deplorable housing conditions, provided group & individual counseling, transportation and post-move support (as required). 107 or 98.2% of the 109 residents in the Miami Limited II development were successfully relocated, using their Section 8 vouchers in cooperation with the City of Miami.

1998

HOPE opened a satellite office in Broward County.

1998

HOPE established the Dewey W. Knight, Jr./Ann-Marie Adker Fair Housing Center under a consent decree. The program was designed to encourage eligible households offered project based or tenant based assistance to explore and accept desegregative housing opportunities in the Miami-Dade area. The Mobility Counseling Program provided group and individual counseling, referral, transportation and incentive services to Miami-Dade County public housing residents seeking housing opportunities.

2000

HOPE was the recipient of a Fair Housing Organization Initiative (FHOI) Grant from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to oversee the establishment and continued development of a private, non-profit fair housing center, the Central Florida Fair Housing Coalition in Polk County, Florida

2002

HOPE was the recipient of a FHOI Grant from HUD to oversee the establishment and continued development of a private, non-profit fair housing center in the Big Bend Counties, Florida, specifically, Leon, Gadsden, Taylor, Jefferson and Madison Counties 2003 HOPE received the 2003 Thurgood Marshall Advocacy Award from the Urban League of Broward.

2004

HOPE received a $220,000 grant from HUD to increase the numbers of fair housing complaints (as opposed to discrimination that is simply ignored).  The grant, HOPE’s ninth award under HUD’s Fair Housing Initiative Program (FHIP), included increased outreach to Spanish and Creole speaking communities.

2005

HOPE staffed information booths and distributed more than 3,000 flyers to specifically reach out to victims of Hurricane Wilma.  The hurricane was Miami-Dade’s worst storm since Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and Broward County’s worst storm in 50 years, forcing thousands of households to relocate.

2008

HOPE set out to intake 150 fair housing complaints and conduct 130 housing tests aided by the agency’s 13th FHIP award from HUD, increased to the amount of $275,000.

2009

The Adker consent decree (please see 1998, above) settlement term ended at the end of 2009, with HOPE’s work leading to the provision of $891,516 in financial relocation assistance to residents and new housing applicants over the ten-year contractual period.

2010

HOPE kicked off Miami-Dade County’s first-ever fair housing effort specifically targeting the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community.  HOPE partnered with SAVE Dade, a prominent LGBT advocacy organization.

2011

HOPE received two grants from HUD:

• The first was a three-year enforcement grant for $325,000 each year for testing, fair housing counseling, marketing, hosting events, and providing education.
• An unprecedented second grant for $125,000 funded outreach efforts, including distributing newsletters, creating brochures in multiple languages, and conducting outreach.

2011

HOPE’s Miami-Dade office moved into its current location, its own standalone building near Miami Shores, after historically being housed in suites in larger office buildings.

2011

HOPE was awarded $125,000 from HUD for the purpose of traveling and training Public Housing Authorities throughout Florida.

2011

HOPE filed four federal lawsuits (which would eventually settle) against housing providers in Broward County whose policies and actions unlawfully discriminated against families with children.

2012

HOPE was named the Florida Non-Profit of the Year by the Florida Minority Community Reinvestment Coalition (FMCRC).  HOPE was honored at the Builder of Community and Country Awards Dinner hosted by the FMCRC, whose mission is to empower Florida’s low-income and minority communities.

2012

In April of 2012, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA), along with several NFHA member organizations, including HOPE, filed a lawsuit against Wells Fargo for providing far better upkeep and marketing for its Real Estate Owned (also called REO or foreclosed) homes in White neighborhoods than in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods.  This unequal practice is evident across the country and among homes owned by a number of different banks.  Wells Fargo settled this lawsuit in June of 2013 for $44 million.

2013

Broward County Commissioners Lois Wexler and Dale Holness co-sponsored a successful bill requiring boards such as condo associations, homeowners’ associations, and cooperative associations to state, in writing, why an applicant is denied housing.  The Commissioners were inspired to act after attending the annual Broward HOPE luncheon, and praised HOPE’s work on the record during the legislative session when the bill came up for a vote.

2014

HOPE was awarded more than $300,000 in grant money from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Fair Housing Initiatives Program for enforcement and education & outreach campaigns.

2015

In October 2015, HOPE received the Impact Award at the 4th Annual South Florida Community Development Corporation (SFCDC) Awards for Excellence in Community Development. SFCDC is a local nonprofit dedicated to building communities.

2015

In November 2015, HOPE received the Grand Champion Award at the Collective Empowerment Group (CEG) 10th Anniversary Dinner Celebration. CEG is a consortium of churches engaged in a broad range of programs pursuing social and economic justice for all.

2016

In September 2016, with the assistance of civil rights attorney Matthew Dietz, HOPE assisted a woman in securing a Miami Beach condo after the property’s condo association tried to block the sale because the woman needed to install a ramp.

2017

In April 2017, HOPE helped secure the sale of a Hialeah condo after the purchasers were originally denied for being in a same-sex relationship.

2017

In November 2017, HOPE received the Fair Housing Leadership Award from Florida Asian Services Center.

2018

In 2018, HOPE was the recipient of more than $300,000 in grant funds from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, to keep working toward for fair housing for all.

2019

In February 2019, HOPE finished hosting a series of training events around Florida, over six months.  At the events, HOPE staff covered a wide range of civil rights and fair housing requirements and issues, including criminal background checks, domestic violence, medical marijuana, LGBT rights, and disability rights.  The events – held in Homestead, Tallahassee, Plantation, and Tampa – were attended by people representing various entities, including housing authorities, state government offices, county governments, city governments, small businesses, and non-profits.

2019

On March 19, 2019, the National Fair Housing Alliance – along with HOPE and other fair housing groups – settled a major national lawsuit against Facebook over the social media platform giving housing advertisers the ability to exclude people based on demographics.

2020

Working under a grant, HOPE conducted an outreach initiative in Monroe County, whose population is almost entirely in the Florida Keys. This campaign was spurred on by the fact that this county of over 82,000 people had neither any local government entity nor local private organization addressing fair housing issues. The highlight of the outreach was a January 2020 fair housing training by HOPE staff in Key West to an audience of government workers, housing authority staff, nonprofit employees, and community members.

2020

Following the onset COVID-19, HOPE disseminated materials specifically concerning the intersections of the pandemic and fair housing rights.

2021

HOPE partnered with the Florida Commission on Human Relations and the Gainesville Housing Authority to present a fair housing training via Zoom. The event was part of a series of Zoom outreach opportunities under a grant through which HOPE reached more than 350 people.

2022

HOPE hosted a Zoom presentation covering fair housing issues, especially those touching South Florida’s past, present, and future. This included information about the state of the housing situation in South Florida during the COVID-19 pandemic. Speakers included fair housing attorney Eneami Bestman-Range, Professor Robin F. Bachin of the University of Miami, and Jorge Damian de la Paz with the Miami-Dade County Mayor’s Office.

2023

HOPE staff traveled to conduct in-person fair housing trainings to housing providers in Ruskin, FL and Orlando, FL, due to a lack of private organizations in those areas specifically doing work against housing discrimination. Under the same grant, and for the same reason, HOPE staff also conducted a December 2022 training in Pensacola, FL.

2024

Both in person and online, HOPE hosted live 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-hour fair housing trainings for several entities, including real estate agents, property managers, maintenance staff, housing counselors, homeowners associations, landlords, and others. Some of these trainings were for the sake of training, while others were generated as the result of complaints or lawsuits.