A Fair Housing and Diversity Training will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday at the National Corvette Museum to educate the community on fair housing law basics and issues.

The free event is being sponsored by the Lexington Fair Housing Council, Kentucky Housing Corp. and the Bowling Green Human Rights Commission. It is open to the public and will be beneficial to landlords, tenants, Realtors and anyone in need of information about updated fair housing laws and training, said Alice Gatewood-Waddell, Bowling Green Human Rights Commission executive director.

“It will benefit by providing education and a resource for housing information. It gives anyone that would like to attend an opportunity to ask questions and who have had obstacles when dealing with housing issues,” Waddell said.

Emphasis will be placed on housing as it relates to disability, basic information about accommodations, modifications and other information that may have recently come out, Waddell said.

Fair Housing Outreach and Education Coordinator Chiquita Sparks said that with April being Fair Housing Month it’s important to bring awareness to the community.

“It’s important for you to know what the laws are so you know what you can and cannot do. Anybody that has anything to do with housing period needs to know what the laws are,” Sparks said. The training “is an outreach so they’re aware what they can do and get a better understanding.”

The training will include a section dedicated to working with people with mental illness. LFHC Programs Coordinator Kyle Chafin said they see quite a bit of issues with disability housing. She said disability is the most-violated class under the Fair Housing Act. 

“We’ll hopefully prevent housing providers from discriminating in that area of your community and hopefully it would kind of arm the general public with the knowledge that they need regarding their rights,” Chafin said. “So if they are mistreated they are able to recognize the necessary resources that are available to them.” 

Certificates of participation will be provided upon completion of the training.

— To register visit, www.lexingtonfairhousing.com or call 866-438-8617. For more information, email mail@lexingtonfairhousing.com.

— Follow faith/general assignments reporter Simone C. Payne on Twitter @_SimonePayne or visit bgdailynews.com.