Housing Crisis Declared By Fairfield Authority, Operation Hope

FAIRFIELD, CT — The Fairfield Housing Authority and Operation Hope of Fairfield have declared an affordable housing crisis for the most vulnerable residents in Fairfield in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

The housing authority held a joint news conference Thursday with Operation Hope, and together they are calling on Fairfield’s elected state representatives and Gov. Ned Lamont to allocate funds to address the crisis.

“Today is a call to action for the General Assembly to revisit the Governor’s Action Plan which controls the distribution of the discretionary $2.8 billion of Federal American Rescue Funds,” officials wrote in a news release. “The town’s residents and the state’s residents need and deserve a ‘housing & housing services’ line item in the Gov.’s Allocation Plan. Currently, the Allocation Plan has $0 funds available for this purpose.”

The revision to Lamont’s Allocation Plan “needs to include the simultaneous and substantive investments in both short term and long term permanent, sustainable, affordable housing for our most vulnerable residents, with comparable investments into homeless and other support services,” the news release states. “The system in place for housing with services is and has been a successful model, but it will fail if not given access to these federal funds. We cannot and should not let this incredible opportunity pass on this unprecedented infusion of federal funds coming to our state.”

Officials said the Lamont administration’s investment of the American Rescue Plan funds is “admirable.” However, they said the critical components of the economic recovery and the growth and sustainability of neighborhoods requires “housing stability as a foundation to be successful.”

“There are so many reasons to revise the Governor’s Allocation Plan, and really no reasons not to, given the severity of this crisis,” officials wrote in the release. “Connecticut has an opportunity to correct the omission in its plan for ARPA funding and address the disproportionate effects of COVID-19 and a restricted economy on our most vulnerable neighbors, including those at-risk of or experiencing homelessness, of low and moderate means, and more by allocating funds for these critical services. With the high cost of housing (especially in Fairfield County) and the significant barriers many face, this type of investment is less costly and more effective than allowing people to experience the trauma and indignity of homelessness.”

Watch video from the news conference below: