Our History
The Fair Housing Center of Metropolitan Detroit is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization that supports and encourages equal housing opportunities in the greater Detroit metropolitan area.
The Fair Housing Center is a membership-based organization. The Center was established in 1977 by community members who participated in a “Coalition to End Discrimination in Housing" under the leadership and guidance of Cliff Schrupp, the Center’s founder and first director. The Center is the oldest fair housing center in Michigan and one of the oldest fair housing centers in the nation.
Cliff later authored the Local Fair Housing Center Organizing Project: Organizing Instructions and Materials, a guide used to establish approximately 20 fair housing centers throughout the United States.
The Fair Housing Center’s mission is to ensure equal access to housing without discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, disability, and all other protected class categories under federal, state, and local anti-discrimination laws and ordinances. From 1977 to the present, the Center has strived to fulfill its mission by engaging in the following activities: providing assistance to individuals pursuing legal rights and remedies related to fair housing; offering housing assistance and counseling; providing community outreach, education, and fair housing training; and performing research in the area of housing.
To date, the Fair Housing Center has received over 8,000 complaints of fair housing violations. After investigating, the Center assisted in and initiated approximately 500 litigations, recovering over $12 million to remedy fair housing violations, as well as various forms of affirmative relief including the adoption of non-discriminatory policies and fair housing training. Notably, the Center has also helped thousands of others obtain the housing of their choice without the necessity of litigation. Indeed, many fair housing and landlord-tenant complaints are resolved after the Center informs housing providers and complainants as to what the law requires.
The Center also provides answers to questions from owners, property management companies, and other housing providers (boards of condominium association or cooperative, public housing authorities, etc.) concerning fair housing compliance and best practices.
The Fair Housing Center is recognized as one of the leading fair housing enforcement organizations nationwide. The Center has received numerous awards for its fair housing services. At the national level, the Center received a Fair Housing Testing Award from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and a Best Practices Award from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). At the state level, the Center was the first awardee of the Kimberly M. Cahill Bar Leadership Award from the State Bar of Michigan.
The annual reports and other records below summarize our past and present fair housing efforts.
Historical Reports and Records
- 1st Annual Report (1977)
- First Fair Housing Conference Report - “Fair Housing Alternatives – From Promise to Reality” (1977)
- 10th Annual Report (1986)
- Brief History of the FHCMD: Fifteen Years of Fair Housing Services (1991)
- Michigan Fair Housing Centers List (1996)
- 20th Annual Report (1996)
- 20th Anniversary Celebration (1997)
- 30th Annual Report (2006)
- $380,000,000 and Counting - Summary of Housing Discrimination Lawsuits Assisted by Efforts of Private, Non-Profit Organizational Members of the National Fair Housing Alliance (state by state summary) (2010)
- 40th Anniversary Brochure (2017)
Our Recent Annual Reports
Our Board
Executive Committee
Karlynne Tucker Scaggs, KITucker, LLC
Chairperson
Noel J. Saleh, Esq., Saleh & Cordovilla Immigration Law, P.C.
Vice-Chairperson
Dennis J. Varian, Associated Management Co.
Vice-Chairperson
Lucy H. Maddox, Retired
Secretary
Vernon L Shadd, Retired
Treasurer
Terry L. Ward, Retired
Board Members at Large
Leah Brewer, CALP, CAM, Full House Marketing, Inc.
David J. Cross, Esq., Lakeshore Legal Aid
Hector Hernandez, Executive Director, Southwest Economic Solutions
Renae Johnson, Mature Real Estate Services
Gayle S. McGregor, Esq., McGregor Law
Lisa Franklin, Warriors on Wheels
John A. Obee, Esq., Of Counsel, Wood, Kull, Herschfus, Obee & Kull, P.C.
Sharon Rhodes, T. J. Enterprise & Associates, Inc.
Freda G. Sampson, Freda G. Sampson, LLC
Lindsay Yousif, Fair Lending Compliance
Our Team
Executive Director
Engela D. Bertolini, B.A., M.A., M.A.T.
Coordinator of Systemic Investigations and Testing
Testing Coordinator
Aron Hagos, L.L.B., L.L.M., D.P.A.
Sherri Crowell-Johnson, B.A. (Family Life Education), B.A. (Social Work), M.A.
Intake Specialist
Financial
Certified Public Accountants
Bookkeeper
Our Service Area
Our service area is the Detroit Metropolitan Area, including Michigan's three most populous counties: Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties. Additionally, the Center's Board recently approved the addition of St. Clair County as a fourth county in our service area.
Major cities and townships within the Center’s four county service area include:
- Wayne County - Detroit, Dearborn, Livonia, Canton, Westland, Taylor, Dearborn Heights, Redford Township, Lincoln Park, and Brownstown Township.
- Oakland County - Troy, Farmington Hills, Rochester Hills, Southfield, Waterford Township, West Bloomfield Township, Novi, Pontiac, Royal Oak, Bloomfield Township, Commerce Township, and Orion Township.
- Macomb County -Warren, Sterling Heights, Clinton Township, Macomb Township, Utica, St. Clair Shores, New Baltimore, Roseville, and Eastpointe.
- St. Clair County - Port Huron, Marysville, St. Clair, Algonac, and Marine City.
Our four county service area includes over 4 million residents, exceeding 40% of Michigan’s population. Our service area also includes the majority of all Black or African American residents in Michigan, as well as high percentages of other racial, ethnic, and language groups.
From left to right, hard working team members Lisa Cooney, Testing Coordinator, Aron Hagos, Fair Housing Specialist, and Engela Bertolini, Coordinator of Systemic Investigations.
Our Office
Our office is located in the
Samaritan Center. The Samaritan Center has a long history of serving the disadvantaged. The mission of the Samaritan Center is to provide a facility for a unique group of independent, community-based organizations.
As illustrated by the ceramic tile murals at the entrance to the Samaritan Center, the organizations working at the Samaritan Center provide healthcare, education, training, employment, and a host of other programs leading to economic development and self-sufficiency.
