Write a commentThe Oswego County Housing Office today announced the winners of its 2024 coloring contest.
Each year, Oswego County children aged 4 to 12 enter the contest to color their idea of what fair housing means to them.
The contest is separated into two age groups. The winners of the 4- to 7-year-old age group are:
- First place: Sparrow Wielt, Lura M. Sharp Elementary School
- Second place: Raya Moore, Fairley Elementary School
- Third place: Payton Yager, Fairley Elementary School
The winners of the 8- to 12-year-old age group are:
- First place: Gabriella Borden, New Haven Elementary School
- Second place: Lorna Pelow, New Haven Elementary School
- Third Place: Cash Jensen, Palermo Elementary School
Each winner received a monetary gift certificate donated by Fulton Savings Bank and Pathfinder Bank.
This year’s contest had 500 entries – the highest number in the contest’s history! All entries were displayed on the walls of the county’s housing office and from floor to ceiling in the hallway outside the room. Members of the public and county employees enjoyed the display and participated in a blind vote to select the winners.
The annual contest is one of the ways Oswego County marks the Fair Housing Act of 1968, enacted by President Lyndon B. Johnson. In the years since, the Oswego County Legislature has passed two local laws in support of equal housing opportunities for all county residents.
The body also appointed a Fair Housing Officer and established the Fair Housing Council to promote the Fair Housing Law, which prohibits discrimination based on certain personal traits in the sale, rental or advertising of housing, in providing housing brokerage services or in the availability of residential real estate. These traits include race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, family status and nation of origin.
Oswego County also proclaimed April as Fair Housing Month to promote, support and enforce equal housing opportunities for all county residents.
For more information about fair housing in Oswego County, go to https://www.oswegocounty.com/departments/housing_assistance/index.php.
