2026 CCHRCO Spring Workshop
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Online registration closes April 30, 2026.
NOTE: You can register online even if you are paying by check. Simply select the pay by check option.
2026 CCHRCO Spring Workshop - HUD: In This Season of Change
Hyatt Regency, Greenville, South Carolina 29601
May 13-15, 2026
- Course #1 (Day 1 & 2)
"Fix the Message, Strengthen the Mission"
Cheron Porter, Cheron Porter Consulting, LLC - Course #2 (Day 1 & 2)
Landlord Briefing, Evictions & Fair Housing
Aris Hanchard Ferguson, Housing Authority of the City of Charleston - Course #3 (Day 1 & 2)
Gas Line Safety, Leak Detection & Gas Meter Knowledge
Jason Brown, Piedmont Natural Gas - Course #4 (Day 1- Full Day)
Poverty Simulation & Workshop
Beth Templeton, Our Eyes Were Opened
Hotel Information
NOTE: Once you register online (either by credit card or check), your registration confirmation email will include the hotel link & code. Hotel rooms are available to registered attendees only.
Hyatt Regency Greenville
220 N. Main Street
Greenville, SC 29601
Conference Dates: May 13-15, 2026
General Information: 1-864-235-1234
Website: Hyatt Regency Greenville
Last Day to Book Hotel: Tuesday, April 21, 2026
Check-In Time: 4:00 PM
Check-Out Time: 11:00 AM
Room Rates (Per Night)
Based on single/double occupancy, room rate $189 plus tax per night.
At check-in guests will be asked for a valid credit card for Incidental Charges.
Self-Parking Fee will be $7.00 per day.
Training Topics
Thursday & Friday - "Fix the Message, Strengthen the Mission"
Most small housing agencies are running on grit and good intentions. They do the work of giants with the staff of a startup, and communication is usually the first thing to suffer. The result is predictable: frustrated residents, misinformed stakeholders, staff confusion, unnecessary complaints, and a reputation that never quite reflects the agency's real impact.
This workshop solves that problem. It gives your team a clear communications system you can manage without a full department. It also gives your agency language that protects your credibility, reduces resident frustration, and strengthens relationships with your board, elected officials, and partners. If your agency feels stuck in reactive mode, this workshop will change that.
By the end of the training, each agency will walk away with:
- A 60-day communications plan tailored to their agency.
- Three polished messages they can use in resident notices, social posts, and public statements.
- Templates for crisis response, resident accountability, and board updates.
- A clear plan for who owns what inside their small staff.
- Tools that make communication faster, easier, and more consistent.
In short, they leave prepared, not overwhelmed.
Speaker: Cheron Porter
Ms. Porter is an award-winning communications executive with more than 25 years of experience helping organizations tell their stories with purpose and clarity. She began her career at WMAR-TV, Baltimore's ABC affiliate, where she discovered her passion for connecting people through authentic storytelling and clear communication.
Cheron has served in key leadership roles at two of the nation's largest public housing authorities-INLIVIAN, in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she currently serves as Executive Vice President of Corporate Communications, and the Housing Authority of Baltimore City, where she was Communications Director. In both roles, she has led strategic communication initiatives centered on transparency, community trust, and resident engagement.
Her career spans issues management, internal communications, crisis response, and public affairs, always guided by a deep commitment to helping housing authorities strengthen their connection with the people they serve.
Cheron holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications from James Madison University, a Master of Arts Degree in Public Communication from American University, and a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Development from the University of Maryland, College Park. She is accredited in Public Relations (APR) and serves as the Vice President for the Public Relations Society of America - Charlotte.
Thursday & Friday - Landlord Briefing, Evictions & Fair Housing
"From Leases to Litigation: Landlord Responsibilities, Evictions, and Fair Housing in HUD Assisted Programs"
Managing landlord-tenant issues in HUD-assisted programs requires a careful balance of operational judgment, regulatory compliance, and fair housing awareness. This session explores the full life cycle of tenancy in federally assisted programs from leasing and landlord participation to enforcement actions, evictions, and potential litigation risks. Participants will examine how landlord responsibilities and tenancy rules differ between public housing, where the housing authority serves as the landlord, and the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, where private owners lease directly to voucher holders while operating under a Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) contract with the PHA. The session will address practical issues that arise during tenancy approval, inspections, lease enforcement, and owner relations, while also highlighting common legal pitfalls that can lead to disputes or liability. Special attention will be given to eviction and termination decisions, documentation and due process requirements, and the intersection of these actions with fair housing obligations, including reasonable accommodations, protections under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), and nondiscrimination requirements. Participants will also review recent HUD policy developments affecting landlord participation and program administration. Through practical examples and real-world scenarios, this workshop will provide tools to help housing professionals navigate complex landlord-tenant issues, strengthen compliance, and make defensible decisions when challenging situations arise.
Speaker: Aris Hanchard Ferguson
Mrs. Ferguson is General Counsel for the Housing Authority of the City of Charleston, where she leads legal strategy for one of South Carolina's largest public housing agencies. In this role, she advises on regulatory compliance, housing policy, complex real estate transactions, procurement, and litigation, while helping guide large-scale redevelopment and housing preservation initiatives involving federal housing programs and public-private partnerships. In addition to her work in Charleston, Aris currently serves as Interim Executive Director of the Beaufort Housing Authority, where she provides executive leadership and strategic oversight while supporting the agency's operational stability and long-term housing initiatives. Her practice centers on affordable housing law, landlord-tenant issues, fair housing compliance, and the administration of HUD-assisted programs, including public housing and the Housing Choice Voucher program. Aris regularly advises housing authorities, municipalities, and development partners on complex housing transactions, redevelopment initiatives, and the regulatory frameworks governing federally assisted housing programs. Before entering public housing law, Aris worked at Motley Rice LLC in the firm's Securities and Consumer Fraud practice group, assisting with complex litigation and federal investigations. Aris earned her B.A. from Duke University and her J.D. from Charleston School of Law, where she served as President of the Black Law Students Association and was inducted into the Forensic Club. She remains active in professional and civic leadership, including service on the Board of Trustees for Pinewood Preparatory School.
Thursday & Friday - Gas Line Safety, Leak Detection & Gas Meter Knowledge
This session will cover gas line safety, how to use a meter for leak detection, and general information on gas usage and appliances.
Speaker: Jason Brown, Piedmont Natural Gas
Moderator: Darren Nadeau
Thursday All Day - Poverty Simulation & Workshop
This session looks at underlying issues, factors, and causes of poverty to understand why people who are poor may think and act as they do. The goal for our time together is to decrease judgment and increase compassion by enlarging our understanding. This day will include interactive exercises, poverty simulation, discussion, and excerpts from books written by the presenter.
The morning will involve a two-hour poverty simulation. Participants are placed into families made up of one to five members. They receive an envelope that describes their demographics, their income/resources, and their bills. They interact with "vendors" (trained volunteers) who sit at tables around the perimeter of the room. During the course of the simulation, they may deal with a mortgage/rental company, school, pawnbroker, banker, employer, and others. To get from "home" to one of the vendors requires a transportation ticket. This is just the first of many challenges the participants experience within the two-hour time period. Afterwards, in the debriefing, they share insights of extraordinary vividness and intensity.
The afternoon session will involve an interactive workshop about various poverty definitions, how our funding of knowledge affects our decisions, levels of addressing poverty, factors of persistent poverty, and other aids to increasing understanding of poverty and its effects.
Speaker: Beth Lindsay Templeton
Mrs. Templeton is a Presbyterian USA minister, poverty advocate, teacher, author, mother, and grandmother. After twenty-five years as a nonprofit administrator working with people who needed resources, she founded "Our Eyes Were Opened," whose mission focuses on "the haves" to enlarge their understanding about people who live in poverty in order to decrease judgment and increase compassion. She has worked with congregations, schools, universities, medical facilities, civic groups, service providers, and businesses in Greenville and around the country. She is the author of fifteen books.
Agenda:
- Wednesday, May 13, 2026
- 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Registration (Studio Pre-Function) - 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Board Meeting (Studio 220 @ Noma A) - 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Board Dinner (Pergola @ Roost)
(Dinner on your own for Non-Board members)
- 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
- Thursday, May 14, 2026
- 7:00 AM - 8:30 AM
Breakfast (Provided by CCHRCO) (Studio 220 @ Noma A)
Must have Badge to Enter - 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM
Registration (Studio Pre-Function) - 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Course #1- Fix the Message, Strengthen the Mission (Teal Ballroom)
Course #2- Landlord Briefing, Evictions & Fair Housing (Studio 220 @ Noma B,C)
Course #3- Gas Line Safety, Leak Detection & Gas Meter Knowledge (Redbud) - 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Course #4- Poverty Simulation & Workshop (Studio 220 @ Noma A) - 10:30 AM - 10:45 AM
Break (Courses 1, 2 & 3 Only) - 10:45 AM - 12:30 PM
Course #1- Fix the Message, Strengthen the Mission (Teal Ballroom)
Course #2- Landlord Briefing, Evictions & Fair Housing (Studio 220 @ Noma B,C)
Course #3- Gas Line Safety, Leak Detection & Gas Meter Knowledge (Redbud) - 12:30 PM - 1:45 PM
Luncheon (Provided by CCHRCO) (Studio 220 @ Noma A)
Must have Badge to Enter - 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Course #1- Fix the Message, Strengthen the Mission (Teal Ballroom)
Course #2- Landlord Briefing, Evictions & Fair Housing (Studio 220 @ Noma B,C)
Course #3- Gas Line Safety, Leak Detection & Gas Meter Knowledge (Redbud) - 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Course #4- Poverty Simulation & Workshop (Studio 220 @ Noma A) - 3:30 PM - 3:45 PM
Break - 3:45 PM - 5:00 PM
Course #1- Fix the Message, Strengthen the Mission (Teal Ballroom)
Course #2- Landlord Briefing, Evictions & Fair Housing (Studio 220 @ Noma B,C)
Course #3- Gas Line Safety, Leak Detection & Gas Meter Knowledge (Redbud)
Course #4- Poverty Simulation & Workshop (Studio 220 @ Noma A)
Dinner will be on your own
- 7:00 AM - 8:30 AM
- Friday, May 15, 2026
- 7:00 AM - 8:30 AM
Breakfast (Provided by CCHRCO) (Studio 220 @ Noma A)
Must have Badge to Enter - 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Course #1- Fix the Message, Strengthen the Mission (Teal Ballroom)
Course #2- Landlord Briefing, Evictions & Fair Housing (Studio 220 @ Noma B,C)
Course #3- Gas Line Safety, Leak Detection & Gas Meter Knowledge (Redbud)
Conference Ends at 10:30 AM
Have a safe trip home and we will see you at the Marriott Myrtle Beach Resort & Spa in Myrtle Beach, SC for the Annual Workshop August 23-26, 2026!
- 7:00 AM - 8:30 AM
Refund Policy:
All requests for refunds must be in writing and should be mailed or emailed to Thomas Ray Green at Redevelopment Commission of the Town of Tarboro within the required timeline.
Requests for refunds received prior to April 30th, 2026, will be honored less a $50.00 Processing Fee.
Refunds will NOT be considered after April 30, 2026.
Should you have additional questions, please contact:
Thomas Ray Green, Tarboro Redevelopment Commission
Phone: 252-823-6339
Email: trgreen23@tarborohousing.com
To register for the 2026 CCHRCO Spring Workshop, please click the register button below.
Please complete a separate registration form for each attendee. Guest(s) need not be separate.
