Fair Housing Project Awards Fair Housing Advocate Award and Jeffrey D. Dillman Fair Housing Award

On April 29, 2022, fair housing advocates, community members, government officials, and industry stakeholders gathered virtually for the City of Raleigh’s 15th Annual Fair Housing Conference, sponsored by the Fair Housing Project and the City’s Fair Housing Hearing Board. The conference, titled “Place Matters/Race Matters: Appraisals, Opportunity, and Fair Housing Rights,” examined some of the most pressing fair housing issues facing our communities.

At the conference, the Fair Housing Project awarded the Stella J. Adams Fair Housing Advocacy Award to Josie Williams. Josie is the Executive Director of the Greensboro Housing Coalition (GHC), a leading housing advocacy nonprofit in Greensboro, NC.  Josie previously served as Director of Community Engagement for GHC in addition to fostering GHC’s role in the Collaborative Cottage Grove, a collective of organizations and neighborhood residents working together to address community needs, including the relationship between health and housing quality.  Josie is a Greensboro native and developed her passion for community and addressing social determinants of health, particularly housing insecurity, from her personal experience with homelessness. Her unique perspective allows her to function as a bridge for the many individuals and organizations seeking both equitable processes and outcomes.

The Fair Housing Project also awarded the first Jeffrey D. Dillman Fair Housing Award. The Jeffrey D. Dillman Fair Housing Award was created in memory of the late Jeffrey D. Dillman, who was the Co-Director of the Fair Housing Project from 2012, through January 2022, when he unexpectedly passed. The Jeffrey D. Dillman Fair Housing Award was awarded to Jack Holtzman. Jack Holtzman also dedicated his career to pursuing equal justice and equal housing opportunities for low-income North Carolinians. Jack has over 35 years of housing and civil rights experience, including over 20 years of fair housing experience.

Jack co-founded the Fair Housing Project of Legal Aid of North Carolina in 2011, and from 2012-2022 Co-Directed the Fair Housing Project with the late Jeff Dillman. At the Fair Housing Project, Jack supervised the Fair Housing Project’s enforcement work, managing an active fair housing case load, working extensively with various state and federal agencies, mentoring new attorneys, and facilitating community and other partnerships throughout the state. He has handled individual and impact fair housing litigation in federal and state courts, as well as before the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and local government fair housing agencies. Jack’s (and Jeff’s) leadership of the Fair Housing Project’s enforcement work has led to the successful resolution of numerous fair housing cases across North Carolina and resulted in more than $7.1 Million in damages and fees for our clients and communities. Jack officially retired in July, 2022.

Lauren Brasil, Co-Director and Managing Attorney of the Fair Housing Project said, “It’s difficult to adequately capture the impact that Jack and Jeff had on fair housing in our State. Both served our communities tirelessly and selflessly for years, working to improve equal housing opportunity for all. It was a privilege working with them for the past decade. We miss Jeff deeply, but I’m glad that we could recognize them both through this award.”