The Fair Housing Five

Hey friends! It’s been a busy spring for Samaria and her friends. In February we were back at Alice Harte Charter School reading The Fair Housing Five & the Haunted House with first graders. Then in March we worked with Alice Harte eighth graders for a week on a game that demonstrates the impact of housing discrimination and an urban planning project. (Great news- we’ve invented a version of the Housing Choice Game that takes less time, so if you wanted to bring the game into your classroom but didn’t have an open block long enough, give me a call!) March also brought us back to McDonogh 32 Literacy Charter through our partnership with Young Audiences. Then in April we went back to Audubon Charter School, home to our very first workshop two years ago! We did the Housing Choice Game with 4th, 5th and 6th grade students, talked about the Fair Housing movement, and designed fair housing posters. I am endlessly impressed and inspired by the young people we work with, who are thoughtful, creative, and deeply outraged by injustice. Scroll down for photos.

Check out these fair housing public service announcements written, directed, performed and produced by members of the after school Entrepreneur Art Club at the Freret Neighborhood Center!  Thanks to the EAC for helping us get the word out to the community about fair housing. These videos tackle housing discrimination based on race and religion.

P.S. We can make fair housing PSAs with your group of young advocates as well!  Call (504) 596-2100 x. 109 or email hadams@gnofairhousing.org to schedule a workshop.

It’s not too late to order The Fair Housing Five & the Haunted House for Fair Housing Month!   Our children’s book provides a great way to engage young people and reach families with information about housing discrimination and the important role fair housing centers play in communities across the country.  Follow in the footsteps of fair housing advocacy groups in Connecticut, Virginia, Colorado and Oklahoma and order some copies of the book to share in April!  Contact me and I’ll send you a free curriculum guide.

This February and March we’ve been doing a series of workshops with first grade students at Alice Harte Charter School.  In the workshop we read The Fair Housing Five & the Haunted House and talk about discrimination.  Then we discuss the things we want and don’t want in our neighborhoods, and students put on their urban planner hats and design a map of a neighborhood they would like to live in.  The students seem to really enjoy this 1.5 hour workshop and learn something new about the importance of justice and diversity and the harm caused by discrimination.  To schedule a free workshop at your school call (504) 596-2100 x. 109 or email hadams@gnofairhousing.org.

The Fair Housing Five & the Haunted House is the perfect holiday gift for the children in your life.  Written for ages 6+ and used successfully in first through fifth grade classrooms, The Fair Housing Five is fun, educational, and empowering.  It’s a great tool for opening up conversations with your child about social justice and equity.  In the book, Samaria and her friends investigate a haunted house across the street form their clubhouse, only to find that the house isn’t haunted after all.  Instead, they find a landlord who is discriminating, and must find a creative way to stop him.  The book includes a glossary and thought questions with which you can engage your child.  And last but not least, the book contains beautiful, full-color illustrations by New Orleans’ own Sharika Mahdi!

Order your copy today here, or if you live in New Orleans, come pick it up at our office!  Give Hannah a call at 504-596-2100 x.109 to arrange a pickup.

It’s been another busy month with the Fair Housing Five.  First, at the end of November we did a workshop with first graders at Alice Harte Charter School where we read The Fair Housing Five & the Haunted House and then designed maps of neighborhoods we would like to live in.

Then in December we partnered with Young Audiences to do a workshop with third graders at McDonogh 32 Literacy Charter School.  We read The Fair Housing Five, and then talked about the meaning of the word “discrimination” and looked at different examples.  Then the students wrote their own examples and illustrated them.  We created our own book about discrimination!

October was a busy month for us.  First, we did a week-long workshop with eighth graders at Alice Harte Charter School.  Students played a game that demonstrated the difference between living in a community with access to resources (like schools, grocery stories, healthcare resources etc.) vs. living in a community without access to resources, and talked about how discrimination represents a barrier to housing choice for many families.  Then we did an urban planning exercise where students were given a budget and had to design communities where resources are distributed equitably.

Next, we partnered with teachers at Langston Hughes Academy to do a Halloween themed workshop with three first-grade classrooms.  Students read The Fair Housing Five & the Haunted House and then made three-dimensional maps of the town where the book is set.  The workshop provided students and teachers with a real-life application of English Language Arts and Social Studies curricula.

To schedule a workshop at your school, click here.

We want to get The Fair Housing Five & the Haunted House and our innovative social justice curricula into as many schools as possible.  Can you help?  Donate $30 or more before Halloween and we’ll send a copy of the hardcover book and curriculum guide to any school of your choice around the country, in your name.  Get started >

This summer was an exciting time for Samaria and her friends.  In July, GNOFHAC staff led a five day “Housing Choice Game” workshop at the Freret Neighborhood Center summer camp.  We were joined by staff from the Fair Housing Center of West Michigan who were interested in facilitating workshops with youth in their region.  The students at the Freret Center had so much fun that they’ve asked us to come back and lead a workshop in November!

Other exciting updates:

• The paperback book is now available from Ingram and Baker & Taylor wholesale distributers!  That means your brick and mortar bookstore can order you a copy, and that schools and libraries can more easily access the book.
• The hardcover book now comes in a durable case wrap style.  Also, a change in our publishing strategy has allowed us to reduce the price of the book to $24.95!

On Saturday, July 25th GNOFHAC staff and Audubon Charter School librarian Elaine Schlesinger presented The Fair Housing Five at the American Library Association Conference as part of the ALA’s annual Diversity & Outreach Fair.  GNOFHAC and Audubon Charter have been partnering on the Fair Housing Five project since 2010.  Over 10,000 librarians, publishers and other book industry professionals were in attendance.