How the housing crisis is affecting thousands in New Haven
There are roughly 30,000 people in New Haven alone, questioning if they will end up living on the street. Realistically, most of them will never get their answer.
FOX61 is committed to diving into the housing crisis in Connecticut, with each story shedding light on the issues people face while trying to put a roof over their heads.
We spoke with two families facing different sides of the same battle with a system that isn’t set up to let them win.
There is an unprecedented 30,000 people on the New Haven Section 8 housing waitlist. Still, most of these people’s applications will never even be processed due to too-little housing available, insufficient funding, and an overall lack of resources.
Even if a family does receive a voucher or has one already, that doesn’t mean they are housing-secure.
Two decades ago, a family needing housing assistance from a federal program such as Section 8 could apply and receive an answer within a reasonable amount of time.
Elm Cities Housing Authority President Karen Dubois-Walton tells us now, with living expenses going up and wages not matching that increase, there is a higher demand for housing assistance, especially here in Connecticut.
“We are the wealthiest state in [the] wealthiest country; there is more we can be doing to help the unhoused families,” DuBois-Walton said.
Dubois-Walton spends every day meeting with those who are desperate for help. She said she feels the weight of the most vulnerable population in New Haven on her shoulders.
“It can be unsatisfying to hang up the call and walk away without offering them a solution to their urgent need,” DuBois-Walton said.
Today there are roughly 30,000 people in New Haven alone questioning if they will end up living on the street. Realistically, most of them will never get their answer.
“You and I will be dead and buried before we reach the end of a list like that,” she said.
One of those families waiting for an answer is the Blank family.
Waiting for an Answer
Forrest and Kacie Blank said their move from Alaska to Connecticut last year could be summed up quickly.
“It was emotionally and financially draining,” Kacie said.
They applied for Section 8 assistance last June and still haven’t heard back. The couple said they were number 23,000 on the list. Now more than a year later, their status hasn’t changed much.
They are scraping together $2,800 monthly for a West Haven motel. Ironically, that rate is about three times what they would pay if someone would take a chance on them.
“We are thinking it’s our credit score because when we moved down here, we had to lean on credit cards; we used all our cash saved,” Kacie said.
DuBois-Walton said the Blanks are prime candidates to receive a Section 8 voucher, but the resources to help them don’t exist.
“We are a state that has underbuilt housing at all impact points for decades,” Dubois-Walton said. “We are not building enough housing to grow.”
Currently, the National Housing and Urban Development’s success rate is 45% of applicants placed in homes.
Meanwhile, the New Haven Housing Authority has very different statistics. They have placed 34% of applicants successfully, and 25% have a voucher but are still looking for a place.
The disheartening statistic comes from the number of vouchers that expire. Leaders say 41% of the granted vouchers go unused due to the family not being able to find a place to live, putting them at the back of the line and back to square one.
This impacts people like the Blanks the most. It’s now been more than a year of waiting. They say they are still sacrificing food for themselves to have a motel roof over their head and enough food for their baby.
The proof here is in the numbers; New Haven County is ranked as the 9th worst housing market in the country. Realtor.com shows a shocking 74% decrease in overall home and apartment availability over the last five years. This puts a significant burden on the Elm City Housing Authority.
“It’s hard for anyone with Section 8 or a person with money ready to rent; it’s a hot market with more demand than there is supply,” DuBois-Walton said.
Waiting for Availability
One of the people hearing that rejection is Lisandra Deleon--she is facing a different side of the problem the Blank family is dealing with. Deleon has been using Section 8 assistance for 18 years due to severe health issues that make it impossible for her to work. Now she says her landlord is asking her to leave so he can live in the unit—putting her on the path to homelessness if she can’t find an open unit.
“I’m desperate. I have a 6-year-old daughter with asthma. I don’t want to be in the street with my kids and this a tough situation,” Deleon said. "Every time I apply, I get rejected, or they tell me if I don’t have credit to just forget about it.”
It's an issue FOX61 has heard from dozens of families: They can’t get approved for any of the few apartments available due to poor credit and no money to spare for application fees.
Housing officials say this is a problem they have a team in place for.
SOT about housing search team
Connecticut state leaders are also working on long-term solutions to the housing shortage problem.
A housing bill passed this year requires towns to plan and zone for a certain number of affordable housing units, eventually increasing the available housing stock.
State Housing Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno said $800 million has also been set aside to build new developments, help people with down payments, and assist those who barely make ends meet due to paying rent.
“It’s a big investment, but the governor sees this is needed, legislators supported it, we are all in to make a difference,” Mosquera-Bruno said.
But this is not a task that can change things overnight. The Open Communities Alliance estimates Connecticut is about 130,000 units short of helping everyone in the homeless community or assisting those who need a unit they can realistically afford.
“We’ve got some production happening,” DuBois-Walton said. “But this is small scale after decades of underproducing houses.”
She tells us the past several decades of mistakes have set the upcoming decade up for hardship, but they are working every single day to help as many people as possible.
If you urgently need a place to stay, you can call 211. They have resources to take care of people who need immediate assistance, if even for just the night, while more solutions are worked out.
Brooke Griffin is a reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at bgriffin@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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