October 8, 2026 | Categories: About the FHC, Press Release
Ann Arbor ~
The 13th Annual Fair Housing Breakfast will be held on Thursday, October 15, at Weber’s Boutique Hotel in Ann Arbor, with a live stream available for remote attendees. Guest speaker Laura Arce, Senior Vice President for Economic Initiatives at UnidosUS, will present “Fair Housing: Its Role in Closing the Hispanic Homeownership Gap.”
September 15 to October 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month in the United States, and Governor Whitmer declared the same dates as Hispanic Heritage Month in Michigan. The proclamation included the following: “figures from the 2020 census show that the 564,422 Hispanic residents in Michigan make up 5.6% of the state’s population, up from 4.4% in 2010; and … Hispanic males have the highest labor force participating in the state of Michigan, equal to 75%.”
FHC Executive Director Kristen Cuhran noted that “the proclamation by the Governor included statistics indicating that Hispanic/Latino/Latinx homeownership is, and will continue to be, an important topic for Michigan. We are very pleased to have Ms. Arce, from the nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization, speak on these issues at our event.”
Each year, we honor one person for outstanding work that furthers the mission of the Fair Housing Center. We are pleased to announce that the Mark Mitshkun Board of Directors Award will be presented to Jim Schaafsma, Housing Attorney with the Michigan Poverty Law Program, for his ongoing work advancing protections for tenants and for decades of supporting and training tenants’ advocates and attorneys across the state. Mr. Schaafsma has also advocated before the legislature for increased tenant rights, including his instrumental role in the recent addition of source of income protections to the Michigan Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.
The Fair Housing Center thanks its partners for this event, especially our Silver Sponsors, Old National Bank and the Washtenaw County Office of Community and Economic Development.
The Breakfast is the FHC’s largest annual fundraiser, and proceeds support efforts to end housing discrimination and expand housing opportunities, making our communities more open, accessible, and inclusive. We invite community leaders, housing providers, Realtors, lenders, attorneys, students, and policymakers to join us for this important event that shapes the future of housing equity.
**Event Details:**
October 15, 2025, from 8:30-11:00 a.m.; the program begins at 9:00 a.m.
Location: Weber’s Boutique Hotel, Ann Arbor, MI, and live-streamed virtually
Tickets and further information: www.fhcmichigan.org/fhbreakfast
Real Estate professionals can earn 1 Fair Housing CE credit for attending. To receive credit, attendees must sign in at the event using their real estate license number.
Pictured below: Jim Schaafsma and Breakfast Event post
###
The Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan, founded in 1992, actively protects the civil rights of those discriminated against in the rental, sale, or financing of housing through investigation, education, advocacy, and legal action. The Fair Housing Center’s mission is to end discrimination in housing and public accommodations and promote accessible, integrated communities. The Fair Housing Center receives more than 200 complaints annually from its 10-county service area, including Clinton, Eaton, Hillsdale, Ingham, Jackson, Lenawee, Livingston, Monroe, Shiawassee, and Washtenaw counties.