The Wisconsin Fair Housing Network presented its annual Fair Housing Award on Wednesday, July 17, 2019 during the statewide A Home For Everyone Conference of the Wisconsin Collaborative for Affordable Housing, held at the Lismore Hotel in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
A Fair Housing Award (recognizing exemplary performance by a volunteer, researcher, elected official, professional, or organization) was presented, in memoriam, to Carol Ann Jones from Milwaukee. Ms. Jones passed away in December, 2018.
Ms. Jones, professionally and as a volunteer, worked to promote fair housing education throughout Wisconsin for many years. Professionally, she monitored civil rights obligations for Milwaukee County’s Community Development Block Grant program, was committed to the inclusion of minority and women owned businesses in the county’s programs and the promotion of fair housing by the county’s grantees. She monitored and administered programs to increase homeownership for minority households and persons with a disability.
After she retired from Milwaukee County in 2012, Ms. Jones continued to volunteer to pursue these interests through the Wisconsin Fair Housing Network and Housing Resources, Inc., a housing counseling agency, where she served on its board for over 14 years, and was instrumental in the positive recognition the latter agency received on a national level.
As a member of the Wisconsin Fair Housing Network since the 1990s, Carol Jones served as a successful fund-raiser, planner, and organizer for the Network’s annual statewide fair housing conferences and, for school age children, its poster and essay contests to ensure that both present and future leaders in our state develop the knowledge and tools needed to ensure equal housing opportunity for all.
