Despite pleas from several displaced tenants still yet to find permanent housing after an August fire forced them from their homes, Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said the city would stick to its Jan. 10 deadline and stop paying for temporary housing in the form of hotel stays.
“We have done far more than the city has ever done in cases like this, and unfortunately we just don’t have the financial resources in the city to continue to provide temporary housing solutions,” Arulampalam told reporters and tenants gathered outside his City Hall office on Thursday.
Tenants of the Concord Hills Apartments have been wrangling with the city and the Greyhill Group, their corporate landlord, for months since the August fire. On Thursday, they staged a demonstration at City Hall to ask for a one-to-two-week extension of temporary housing as several displaced families sought to finalize permanent living arrangements.
Ariana Garcia, who’s been living in a hotel with her 3-year-old son, Aviohn, said she had an appointment to see an apartment following the demonstration, but she wasn’t sure she would be approved for it.
“We're just asking for more time,” Garcia said. “Most of us have kids, and there's elderly people as well that don't have nowhere to go.”
Tenant Marisol Navarro appealed to the mayor in remarks delivered shortly before his arrival.
“Please, Mr. Mayor, just like you show up for all the events in the city where there's catering and partying and ribbon cutting – do something for these people,” Navarro said. “Don't throw them out in the street with their babies. It's going to be frigid cold this weekend. It's freezing today. We might get some snow. They need a home to go to, so please open up your heart.”
Other displaced tenants described hardships finding wheelchair-accessible apartments and delayed inspections on renovated units leading to their being unable to take occupancy by the Friday deadline when the hotel stays would run out.
The mayor told the tenants to take up the matter with the Greyhill Group. Greyhill did not return Connecticut Public’s request for comment.
Shortly after Arulampalam addressed the tenants, the mayor’s office sent an additional statement.
“Due to the extensive nature of the displacement of Concord Hills tenants, the City of Hartford exceeded any past practice by covering temporary, supportive housing for five months and providing direct outreach and support to help tenants secure permanent housing,” the statement read. “The City has consistently communicated that it cannot provide indefinite accommodations, but that we will continue our vigorous efforts to support impacted tenants through relocation services to secure permanent housing.”
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Connecticut Public's Abigail Brone contributed reporting.
Arunan Arulampalam's father-in-law is Gregory B. Butler, who is a member of the Board of Trustees of Connecticut Public.
