UC grad fights for housing equality in Cincinnati

LaTonya Springs has been around Cincinnati for a long time. A 2015 University of Cincinnati graduate, Springs has spent her time in and around Cincinnati, connecting with the people and learning about their lives and struggles, all with the hope of helping them fight for better conditions in the area.

After starting her education, she was working full-time, which left her in a situation where finishing college didn’t make a lot of sense. However, once UC started a new program called Comeback Bearcat, Springs was able to come back and finish her undergraduate degree in communication, offered through the College of Arts and Sciences.

“I was out of school for a few years, but I came back because someone from the registration department told me that they had a new program that was helping people who had started a degree and needed help to finish the degree,” Springs said. 

 “I wanted to major in communication. The job that I have now is doing webinars, training a lot of people, speaking, and increasing our awareness in the community,” she says. “I felt that if I came back and got a communication degree, that would help me in my future endeavors.” 

While Cincinnati has seen improvement in housing opportunities over the past few years, it still remains a massive program. A report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition shows that the Cincinnati area is nearly 50,000 affordable rental units short of the expected amount of roughly 495,000. 

“I was a community liaison for Cincinnati Vice Mayor Alicia Reece," Springs says. "What I've learned was that everywhere I went, housing was one of the number one issues that everybody talked about, and it's gotten even worse now as far as affordable housing needs and the conditions of housing. From there, my passion was wanting to help the community.”  

If you are interested in learning more about The Fair Housing Act, Springs is holding a webinar to talk about the details of the act and how it affects those in Cincinnati. 

 “The webinar is going to focus on The Fair Housing Act and what is protected under that because a lot of people always say that they're being discriminated in housing," Springs says. 

"I think that a lot of people will benefit from learning what is protected under the Fair Housing Act, as well as the protections that the City of Cincinnati has.”  

The 'Understanding Fair Housing Rights and Ohio Landlord-Tenant Laws' webinar will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 25. Those interested should RSVP to ensure they receive the Zoom link before the event. You can register for the webinar here.

Featured image at top: Facades of urban apartment buildings. Credit/Julio Pablo Vazquez for Pixabay.