Housing Collective Announces CT Department of Housing Grant to Provide Development Capacity to Litchfield County
BRIDGEPORT, CT - The Housing Collective (HC) today announced a $500,000 grant from the Connecticut Department of Housing. This funding will provide much needed non-profit housing development capacity over a three year period to the Litchfield County region through the Litchfield County Center for Housing Opportunity (LCCHO). Grant funds will support shared staff capacity for ten volunteer-led housing organizations working to develop and preserve affordable housing in towns across the region. In addition, the grant will make seed funding available for essential pre-development activities like architectural and engineering services, environmental reviews, and project feasibility analysis.
“The Department of Housing is happy to be able to provide this type of support to the Litchfield County region as part of our commitment to meeting the housing needs of CT’s low income residents, who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID, inflation, and an unprecedented housing market,” said Department of Housing Commissioner, Seila Mosquera Bruno. “Our goal is that this funding will build regional capacity that can be leveraged to support the preservation and production of affordable housing in Litchfield County long after the grant period has ended.”
The Housing Collective provides backbone support for LCCHO as part of its Centers for Housing Opportunity initiative, supporting LCCHO as a strategic partnership between the Foundation for Community Health, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, the Housing Collective, Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation, Northwest Hills Council of Governments, Regional Plan Association, and Partnership for Strong Communities. LCCHO is focused on ensuring equitable access to safe and affordable housing for all Litchfield County community members. Grant funds will support this pilot program at LCCHO.
“We are grateful to the Department of Housing for this innovative and responsive grantmaking,” said the Director of LCCHO, Jocelyn Ayer. “After meeting with the Commissioner last Spring to discuss the opportunities and challenges the volunteer-led housing non-profits are facing in our more rural region, she came back to us with this thoughtful capacity building approach. This pilot program was her suggestion and it will make an enormous impact on our ability to get more affordable housing units built more quickly. LCCHO is excited to be partnering with the Commissioner and her department on this work.”
LCCHO continues its work to facilitate a coordinated, regional response to address housing affordability in Litchfield County, aligning and delivering critical resources, data, and technical assistance to municipalities and non-profit housing organizations. This capacity building program expects to produce over 160 units of affordable housing in the region over the next five years.
Recent data underscores the challenges lower income residents face in finding and maintaining housing in Litchfield County. According to recent data 50% of homerenters and 30% of homeowners in the region are housing cost burdened, necessitating hard household choices on how best to prioritize the monthly costs of rent, food, medicine, childcare, transportation, and healthcare. Housing cost burden limits consumer spending in every sector, which in turn drags down the regional economy, and makes it particularly difficult for young people and seniors to afford to live in Litchfield County.
About the Housing Collective
The Housing Collective is a CT-based nonprofit agency that applies a Collective Impact framework to deliver solutions to the most pressing housing problems. Focused on ending homelessness and creating equitable housing opportunities for all, the Housing Collective provides the leadership and support that enables productive, regional collaboration across organizations and sectors and drives systems change.