The Massachusetts Fair Housing Center

What The Massachusetts Fair Housing Center does

The Massachusetts Fair Housing Center (legal name: Housing Discrimination Project, Inc.) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal services organization founded in 1989, headquartered at 57 Suffolk Street, 4th Floor, Holyoke, Massachusetts, and operating as the oldest fair housing center in the Commonwealth. It provides free legal representation, investigation, and complaint-filing assistance to individuals who have experienced housing discrimination in Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, and Worcester Counties, plus targeted areas of Middlesex County. Core service lines include direct legal services (intake, case investigation, court/agency representation), a Fair Housing Testing Program in which trained testers pose as prospective renters/buyers to uncover discrimination, the SUN Housing Mobility Program counseling Section 8 and MRVP voucher holders during housing searches, fair housing training for landlords, property managers, realtors, and community groups, and a legal internship pipeline for undergraduate and law students.

The organization operates without proprietary technology products; intake is handled via a phone line ((413) 539-9796), a five-part online intake form, and in-person consultations, with bilingual English/Spanish service delivery. A staff of approximately eight (Executive Director, multiple Staff Attorneys, a Testing Coordinator, a Housing Counseling Coordinator, a Community Engagement Coordinator, an Administrative Coordinator, and a Civil Rights Specialist/Paralegal) plus a six-member Board of Directors processes more than 300 housing discrimination complaints annually.

Revenue mechanics are entirely donation- and grant-based: services are free to clients, and funding flows from a concentrated set of institutional sources including the Massachusetts Fair Housing Trust Fund (~$200K allocation in 2026), a $1M statewide state housing office grant shared among four agencies, foundation grants, and individual tax-deductible donations processed via Zeffy, ACH, and check. MFHC is one of four state-designated fair housing agencies, partners with Holyoke Community College (host of its 20th Annual Fair Housing and Civil Rights Conference) and the Fair Housing Alliance of Massachusetts, and competes for state and foundation funding rather than pursuing fee-for-service revenue.

Name

The Massachusetts Fair Housing Center

Legal name

Housing Discrimination Project, Inc.

Website

https://massfairhousing.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Massachusetts Fair Housing Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1989 that provides free legal services, fair housing testing, and voucher-holder counseling to victims of housing discrimination across five Western and Central Massachusetts counties plus targeted areas of Middlesex County.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Aid Services / Fair Housing Advocacy

NAICS

Administration of Housing Programs (925110), Other Community Housing Services (624229)

SIC

Real Estate (6500)

akta.pro primary industry

Fair Housing, Compliance & Housing Program Oversight (FSALAKAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Housing Policy, Standards & Fair Housing Enforcement (BPAIANAG), Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination Organizations (BPAGAFAB)

Keywords

• Housing discrimination services
• Fair housing advocacy
• Legal aid services
• Tenant rights protection
• Civil rights enforcement

Headquarters

HQ city

Holyoke

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: Organization operates as a nonprofit, funded primarily through donations and government/foundation grants. Services are provided free of charge to clients.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Massachusetts Fair Housing Center (legally Housing Discrimination Project, Inc.) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides free legal services to victims of housing discrimination across Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Worcester Counties, and targeted portions of Middlesex County in Massachusetts. The organization enforces federal and state fair housing laws through complaint investigation, testing, legal representation, education, and community outreach.

Product overview

The Massachusetts Fair Housing Center (MFHC) is a nonprofit legal services organization offering a portfolio of programs to combat housing discrimination in Central and Western Massachusetts. Its core offerings include free legal representation for discrimination victims, a Fair Housing Testing Program that employs testers to uncover discriminatory practices, and the SUN Housing Mobility Program providing counseling for voucher holders. Additional services encompass fair housing training, legal internships, and donation processing. MFHC accepts over 300 housing discrimination complaints annually across five counties plus targeted areas of Middlesex County.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Free Legal Services for Housing Discrimination Victims
• Fair Housing Testing and Investigation
• Fair Housing Education and Community Outreach
• Administrative Complaint Assistance

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SouthCoast Fair HousingcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026One of Massachusetts' four fair housing agencies. Partnered with MFHC for the Fair Housing Trust Fund awards in 2026, each receiving approximately $200,000 allocation.
• Community Legal AidcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026One of Massachusetts' four fair housing agencies. Partnered with MFHC for the Fair Housing Trust Fund awards in 2026, each receiving approximately $200,000 allocation.
• Center for Housing Justice & PolicycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026One of Massachusetts' four fair housing agencies. Partnered with MFHC for the Fair Housing Trust Fund awards in 2026, each receiving approximately $200,000 allocation.
• Fair Housing Alliance of Massachusetts (FHAM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMFHC is a member of the Fair Housing Alliance of Massachusetts, which helps serve those experiencing voucher discrimination across the Commonwealth.
• Holyoke Community CollegeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost venue for the 20th Annual Fair Housing and Civil Rights Conference organized by MFHC.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Greater Boston Legal Services: Massachusetts-based legal aid organization providing housing-related legal services to low-income residents. Comparable as a regional legal aid peer with overlapping housing discrimination caseload though serving a different geography.
• Connecticut Legal Services: Regional legal aid organization providing free civil legal services including housing-related advocacy. Comparable in providing free legal representation for low-income clients facing housing issues in a neighboring New England state.

Direct peers

• Community Legal Aid: One of Massachusetts' four designated fair housing agencies and a core partner of MFHC. Provides legal services to low-income residents including housing discrimination cases, directly comparable in mission and funding model.
• Connecticut Fair Housing Center: New England-based nonprofit fair housing center providing free legal services, testing, and education on housing discrimination. Directly comparable in mission, services, and regional nonprofit structure.
• Center for Housing Justice & Policy: One of Massachusetts' four designated fair housing agencies, partnered with MFHC for the 2026 Fair Housing Trust Fund awards. Directly comparable as a Massachusetts-based nonprofit focused on housing justice advocacy and enforcement.
• SouthCoast Fair Housing: One of Massachusetts' four designated fair housing agencies, partnered with MFHC on the 2026 Fair Housing Trust Fund awards. Directly comparable as a nonprofit fair housing legal services organization operating in a different Massachusetts region.

Broad incumbents

• National Fair Housing Alliance: National umbrella organization for fair housing groups including MFHC's peers. Comparable as the national coordinating body for fair housing enforcement, training, and policy advocacy.
• Fair Housing Alliance of Massachusetts: Coalition of which MFHC is a member, coordinating fair housing efforts across the Commonwealth. Comparable as an umbrella organization for fair housing advocacy with overlapping mission and member agencies.

Emerging players

• Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights: Civil rights legal organization with housing discrimination enforcement work. Comparable in providing legal services focused on civil rights enforcement including fair housing testing and litigation.
• Housing Justice for Survivors Project (Harvard Law School): Where MFHC's new Executive Director previously worked; provides legal services related to housing and domestic violence. Comparable in providing legal services at the intersection of housing discrimination and civil rights.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/pages/Massachusetts-Fair-Housing-Center/174279595944125
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-massachusetts-fair-housing-center
• Instagraminstagram.com/massfairhousing

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Massachusetts Fair Housing Center