Baltimore Regional Housing Partnership

The Baltimore Regional Housing Partnership (BRHP) plays an integral role in the implementation of a final settlement in the landmark housing desegregation lawsuit, Thompson v. HUD, which seeks to eradicate the legacy of nearly a century of government-sponsored racial segregation in the Baltimore Region that has left thousands of poor African-American families locked in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty.

The key element of the settlement is an agreement to continue the successful and nationally recognized Baltimore Housing Mobility Program, which was launched a decade ago in an earlier phase of the Thompson case. The Baltimore Housing Mobility Program has a proven track record of opening pathways to a better future by giving low-income, African-American families the same choices about where to raise their children as everyone else in the region. It has assisted over 2,000 families who have voluntarily chosen to move from public housing and other areas of deep poverty in Baltimore City to neighborhoods in Baltimore City and throughout the surrounding Region that are lower in poverty and offer better educational and economic opportunities. In 2014, BRHP will assist several hundred additional families to move to communities of opportunity. Each family that chooses to participate and completes the counseling program receives a Housing Choice Voucher, high-quality housing and credit counseling, and support in the transition to the new neighborhood and schools.

Pursuant to a contract with the Housing Authority of Baltimore City, BRHP regionally administers over 2,400 vouchers already leased, and receives funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to provide similar housing opportunities for up to an additional 2,000 families. BRHP, in turn, has contracted with Metropolitan Baltimore Quadel (MBQ) to administer these Thompson vouchers and to continue providing counseling and assistance to eligible families. BRHP will also oversee and assist with several other projects to increase affordable housing opportunities throughout the Baltimore Region.