Join the fight for Civil Rights on LI for #Giving Tuesday

Long Islanders’ Civil Rights are under attack.
Unfortunately, so is our funding to protect them.

 This #GivingTuesday, Fight Back.

For decades, Long Island Housing Services, Inc. has been at the forefront of efforts to eliminate housing discrimination and promote decent and affordable housing on Long Island. To quote our Executive Director Emeritus, Michelle Santantonio:

We remain committed to eliminating racial segregation and barriers to Fair Housing choice wherever they exist on Long Island.

Today, we need your help, so we’re asking you to give.  What can we accomplish with the help of donations like yours?

These are just a few examples of LIHS’ recent victories in fighting ongoing systemic prejudice.

Imagine being ordered to walk away from your home and belongings with only a few hours’ notice.

Renters in Mastic Beach didn’t have to imagine. Our complaint alleged that the aggressive, unconstitutional and illegal strategies employed to target the community’s African American population stemmed from a desire to drive out the most vulnerable because of  race, color and income source.  Now, with help from Long Island Housing Services, the Federal Court required the Village to comply with the local, state and federal Civil Rights laws and compensate identified victims and their landlords. Learn more.

Wiping Out Vestiges of Nazi-Era Prejudice

The German American Settlement League (GASL) purchased their Yaphank property in the late 1930s, when it was still used as a camp and gathering place for German-Americans who supported Nazism. Until recently, they continued to impose restrictions on membership, leasing, and resale of homes. Our complaint alleged that these restrictions discriminated  against prospective home buyers who are not white people of German ancestry in violation of federal, state, and local Fair Housing laws.  Today, the GASL is banned from discriminating on the basis of race or national origin, and has been ordered to remove any vestiges of  Nazi  or Hitler era. Learn more.

Help LIHS continue to protect homeowners from discrimination by joining our #GivingTuesday appeal.2017 LIHS #GivingTuesday#GivingTuesday is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration. This #GivingTuesday, we ask you to take action with us. With a donation as small as $10, you can help us challenge discriminatory housing policies, counsel at-risk homeowners to avoid foreclosure, and work with tenants to understand their rights. Join the fight for Fair Housing, which includes fighting the sexual harassment of a minor in Patchogue.

Join the Fight

Read more about our success stories below:

Stopping government abuse

In Long Island Housing Services, Inc. v. Village of Mastic Beach, we challenged code enforcement actions of the defendants that were alleged to discriminatorily target African American renters and their landlords in violation of their constitutional rights. LIHS’ investigation into complaints found aggressive code enforcement targeting African American renters and landlords. Specifically, Village of Mastic Beach Code Enforcement officials had evicted several African American tenants who receive housing subsidies, citing minor housing code violations, without providing lawful notice or an opportunity to be heard prior to the eviction. Village officials routinely ordered tenants to walk away from their homes and belongings with only a few hours’ notice.

Michelle Santantonio, then-Executive Director of Long Island Housing Services said:

“The horrendous governmental abuse of authority revealed through LIHS’ investigation is deeply disturbing. LIHS will continue to aggressively monitor municipalities to ensure full compliance with local, state and federal Fair Housing laws. LIHS is committed to assisting victims of discrimination to challenge practices that violate their rights. Long Island municipalities would do well to learn from the cautionary tale of Mastic Beach.”

Our complaint alleged that the decision of Mastic Beach residents to incorporate the Village in 2010 stemmed in large part from animus toward the community’s growing African American population; incorporation advocates seized upon aggressive code enforcement as a strategy for driving out African American tenants receiving rental assistance. But the Village proved short-lived. In November 2016, Mastic Beach voters dissolved the Village, effective December 31, 2017.
Under the terms of the settlement, until dissolution of the Village is finalized, the Village is required to comply with the local, state and federal Civil Rights laws.
Help LIHS continue to protect homeowners from discrimination by joining our #GivingTuesday appeal.

Making national headlines in Yaphank

The German American Settlement League (GASL) purchased their Yaphank property from the American Bund party in the late 1930’s, when it was used as a camp and gathering place for German-Americans who supported Nazism.

According to the [former] by-laws of the GASL, one of the primary purposes of the organization was to “introduce, cultivate, and propagate in every direction true Germanic culture and to cultivate the German language, customs and ideals.”

Our complaint alleged that the GASL’s continued restrictions on membership, leasing, and resale of homes served as a barrier to prospective home buyers who are not white people of German ancestry or background and discriminated on the basis of race and national origin in violation of federal, state, and local Fair Housing laws.

Long Island Housing Services (LIHS) reached an agreement that bars GASL from discriminating on the basis of race or national origin. In addition, it requires the GASL to amend its by-laws to include a non-discrimination provision and to remove the requirement that prospective home buyers are sponsored by current GASL residents, as well as remove any vestiges of Nazi or Hitler era. The GASL’s Board of Directors will be required to undergo Fair Housing training.

LIHS then-Executive Director Michelle Santantonio stated,

“We are very pleased with the GASL’s prompt decisions resulting in critically needed, and decades overdue, changes to end its discriminatory and exclusionary practices. This Settlement will open up affordable housing options for many that would have previously been ineligible for homeownership at GASL.”

Help LIHS continue to protect homeowners from discrimination by joining our #GivingTuesday appeal.

Show more
Show less
<