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Stimulus $$$ Will Help Homeless, Fix Sidewalks
by Ben Johnson | Apr 30, 2009 8:27 am
(4) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author
Posted to: City Hall, Social Services
As New Haven prepares to receive $1.5 million from the feds to help the homeless, lawmakers want to make sure the word gets out to those who need it most.
The issue of how to best reach out to the city’s neediest came up at a meeting of the Board of Aldermen’s Joint Community Development & Human Services Committee Wednesday evening at City Hall.
Committee members heard from area nonprofits and city agencies on two proposals to amend the city’s Consolidated Plan to include over $2 million in federal stimulus money, including a $1,514,570 homelessness-prevention grant and a $990,070 grant for sidewalk repair.
The committee voted unanimously in favor of both measures.
Elizabeth Smith of the Office of Management and Budget and Catherine Schroeter of the Livable City Initiative (pictured) testified to the committee on a proposal. It would award funds from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) to four area nonprofit organizations.
The money would be divided among New Haven Home Recovery and Columbus House, which would jointly receive $684,251; Liberty Community Services, which would receive $398,133; and Community Mediation, Inc., which would receive $205,000.
The money would complement existing efforts to ease homelessness.
“The unique thing about this money,” Smith said, “is that it’s for rental housing; it’s for people who are on the verge of becoming homeless or have just become homeless.”
Anyone with an income below 50 percent of the city median will be eligible for assistance, she said. Participation in an existing aid program such as Section 8 is not required.
Smith, along with Nicole Jefferson, director of the city’s Commission on Equal Opportunities, John Procop of the Public Works Department, and Transportation, Traffic & Parking Director Mike Piscitelli testified about $990,070 the city will receive under the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG-R) program. The money will pay for repairs to sidewalks and streets.
Part of the grant, Jefferson said, will be used to give construction training to at least 20 low-income residents, with the instruction coming from members of the Local 1 Bricklayers Union.
The training, she said, has the potential to help to ease a longstanding lack of minorities and women in the union membership.
“I would say 90 percent of the bricklayers and concrete contractors that do work for the city of New Haven and for Yale University are currently below the requirements that we would like to see because there’s not enough training for this type of work,” she said.
Committee members expressed enthusiasm for both proposed programs. Some voiced concerns about how those most in need of housing assistance would hear about the money.
Alderwoman Jacqueline James-Evans cited her own experience working for DCF and said many of the clients she has worked, many of whom do not speak English or lack a home phone, might not have easy access to information about the program.
“I definitely would like to see in the city’s contract with these providers that there is a requirement that they do outreach to state agencies like DSS and DCF and even the New Haven Board of Education so that they can let schools know that the money is there,” she said.
James-Evans also suggested notifying probation officers and hospitals about the grant money. Alderwoman Frances “Bitsie” Clark said that idea represents the kind of “lateral thinking” necessary to get information to those who might otherwise never hear about community programs.
Smith told committee members the selection of the four nonprofit groups to disburse the money had been based in part on their commitment to spread word about the program to the community.
“We’re funding them to actually advertise,” she said, “and there is a requirement that advertising be a particular part of this grant.”
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Comments
posted by: anon on April 30, 2009 2:45pm
New sidewalk funding is great - dollar per dollar, this creates more jobs than any other government program, and far more jobs than what is created through road building.
The one caveat is that our sidewalks need to be rebuilt to encourage walking. Currently, streets and sidewalks are designed to prioritize automobile travel.
In New Haven, crossing distances are far too vast, which forces people to stay at home unless they are able-bodied, middle-aged people who don’t have children or elderly in tow. In many progressive communities, crossing distances are never more than 10 feet. So vehicles have to slow down in order to get through the “necks” created at each crosswalk. On two way streets, a pedestrian refuge island is always provided.
In New Haven, our sidewalk curbs are always rounded out so that vehicles can speed around corners without slowing down. In more progressive cities, curbs are built at a 90 degree angle. That means drivers have to slow down to a crawl and look around before they hurtle around the corner (potentially killing or running over someone’s foot). If you think about it, a small curve on each side of the road can double the distance that a pedestrian has to cross.
The city needs to think more proactively about ALL road users, not just themselves. If people do not feel comfortable walking around our neighborhoods, the entire city suffers as a result. People are more likely to drive, creating pollution and noise that kills people and neighborhoods. Our streets are literally killing us, directly or indirectly.
With the new sidewalk funding, I hope that the city immediately looks into ways to greatly reduce crossing distances, lower traffic speeds and encourage more walkable streets—before any of the new construction begins.
The overwhelming majority of New Haven residents do not hop in a car and drive to work every day, a fact that often seems lost upon those within the ivory tower of City Hall or the confines of the DOT’s offices in Newington. And the proportion walking, biking or taking transit increases every day, particularly as the population ages.
Look to the future, not the past!
posted by: lance on April 30, 2009 4:27pm
most people that are homeless brought it upon themselves, I wouldn’t give ‘em anything, let alone 1.5 million dollrs worth of food. And how much of the 1.5 is going to be embezzled in one way or another?
posted by: Brenda on May 3, 2009 12:52pm
To Lance:
Maybe you should do some research before spouting stereotypes. Every day, I hear of a new friend/acquaintance losing their job and they are all hard-working individuals. And, as the writer of one of the accepted grants, I consider your embezzlement comment to be extremely disrespectful. We take great pains to give money to people who must go through a rigorous process of documentation (including proving their hardship), inspection of the unit with the landlord and a mandatory mediation with the landlord prior to moving into the unit before we will release funds. It is not just a hand out and we are not making ourselves personally affluent from these grants.
