An affordable housing nonprofit is calling on Fairfield County businesses to contribute financially to the creation of more workforce housing in the region.
Connecticut Housing Partners launched a workforce housing impact fund, enabling low income renters to live comfortably in the community where they work.
Bridgeport-native Jermaine Morgan has lived in a South Norwalk affordable apartment owned and operated by Connecticut Housing Partners for a decade.
Morgan said he has benefited from reliable, affordable housing, and wants to see it expanded.
“Hopefully this program grows and it continues to get better, and a lot more people hear about it. It just creates more of an equal opportunity for everyone out there earning a low income,” Morgan said.
Connecticut Housing Partners is asking local employers, with an emphasis on large manufacturers in the area, to contribute financially to the fund, which will operate as a land bank, Connecticut Housing Partners Chief Executive Officer Renée Dobos said.
“What we’re focused on is the people that are in our community that’re serving us,” Dobos said. “When we go see the pharmacist, when we go get our hair cut, when we get our nails done. These are the people that we’re talking about, all the people that we interact with every day.”
The workforce housing fund will allow Connecticut Housing Partners to purchase land as soon as it becomes available and construct new affordable housing or rehabilitate existing buildings, Dobos said.
“I need all business organizations to help me with that, because the state can't do it by itself,” Dobos said. “We all need to do it together, and there's a lot of big business out there that has a lot of resources that can really be put to good use and really make an impact.”
While the program is in the early stages, Dobos hopes to raise $5 million to kickstart the fund within the next year.
Workforce housing are homes or apartments affordable to residents earning between 60% and 120% of the Area Median Income (AMI), Dobos said. It enables employees to afford rent in the community where they work.
Cost is often a burden to constructing new affordable homes, according to housing advocates.
The state is short by more than 90,000 affordable units, according to the Connecticut Partnership for Strong Communities.
The average household income in Fairfield County is around $100,000, according to 2021 U.S. Census data. Statewide, the median household income is slightly more than $88,000.
“It's always easier to point fingers, but I think a lot of it has to do with a little bit of everybody,” Morgan said.
