$6.9 Million Federal Grant Announced for Low-Income Housing in Connecticut for People with Disabilities

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HARTFORD — The Connecticut Department of Housing announced Tuesday that it has received a large federal grant to support rental housing for people with disabilities who have extremely low incomes. The $6.9 million grant will provide an additional 113 new units of housing.

According to a press release, the funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development “will support up to five years of rental assistance for approximately 113 units of housing in buildings participating in project rental assistance through HUD’s Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities program.”

Currently 70 households of people with disabilities receive rental assistance through the state Department of Housing Section 811 program.

“The locations of the 113 are to be determined,” wrote Aaron Turner, director of government affairs and communications for the Department of Housing, in an email to CT Examiner on Thursday. 

“Extremely low income” is defined as 30 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI). In the rental assistance program, the tenant pays 30 percent of their income toward the cost of rent and the program will pay the remainder, said Turner. 

According to the release, the HUD grants were awarded to state housing agencies that are “working closely with their state Medicaid and Health and Human Services counterparts to identify, refer, and conduct outreach to persons with disabilities who require long-term services to live independently.”

State officials said that the Department of Housing will use the grant to analyze ways to provide rental subsidies to multifamily dwellings with units “targeted specifically for use by extremely low-income persons with disabilities.” 

Turner said the department has no waiting list specifically for people with disabilities, but it does have a “variety of waiting lists for different programs in accordance with program rules.”

Seila Mosquera-Bruno, Commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Housing, said in a release that the funds will facilitate collaboration among state agencies that together support the housing of “our most vulnerable population.” 

“Individuals with disabilities will be able to live independently with the long-term services they need,” said Mosquera-Bruno.