Renters, Homebuyers Get $4M Lifeline

Tatania Sellers was pregnant, in between jobs, and looking for some way to get herself and her kids into an apartment — not into a homeless shelter.

Thanks to a newly launched city aid program, she and her family were able to move into a new home on Starr Street in her ​“time of need.”

Sellers shared that story Tuesday afternoon during a city-hosted press conference on the second floor of City Hall.

The press conference itself marked the official launch of two housing assistance programs run by the Livable City Initiative (LCI) out of City Hall and funded by federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars. 

The first provides up to $5,000 in security deposit assistance for low-income renters, while the second boosts the city’s existing downpayment assistance program for income-eligible homebuyers by up $15,000 per recipient. Both fall under the heading of the so-called ​“I’m Home Initiative,” which the alders dedicated a total of $13 million to in August.

Out of that larger allocation, $3 million is dedicated to the security-deposit assistance program, while $1 million is dedicated to an expansion of the downpayment assistance program. 

Click here to apply for the security deposit assistance program, and here to apply for the downpayment assistance program. (See below for more details.)

Standing alongside Mayor Justin Elicker, LCI Executive Director Arlevia Samuel, and Downtown/East Rock Alder Eli Sabin, Sellers told the reporters and city staff assembled before her about how the security deposit assistance program has already changed her life for the better. And it did so over a month ago, even before it officially launched.

A 30-year-old Brooklyn native who has lived in New Haven for the past 16 years, Sellers held back tears as she thanked city staffers for helping her ​“in my time of need.”

Already a single mother raising two kids, Sellers said that she had to leave her previous job at a local post office when she became pregnant with her third. She wound up needing to have a C section. She found herself looking for an apartment while recovering from surgery. She ultimately found a single-family house on Starr Street to rent — but didn’t have enough money on hand to cover the cost of the security deposit, which was equal to two months’ rent, or $3,600.

“I came here a few days after I had my surgery with my newborn baby,” she remembered about coming to City Hall late this summer. ​“And they literally sat here and took the time out, before the program even opened, to help me.”

She said she was able to get a commitment from LCI to cover the $3,600 security deposit, allowing her to move into her Starr Street home on Sept. 1. Her landlord agreed to hold off on collecting the security deposit on the assurance that the city would be covering it. She said the city sent out that aid directly to her landlord last week.

“I really appreciate that,” she said. ​“That was a very nervewracking” time. She wanted to find a safe place for her and her kids to live, and ​“didn’t want to go into the shelter” instead.

Now she’s applying for work at the Amazon warehouse in North Haven, where she once held a job, and at FedEx. She’s sending out those applications without having to worry for now about having a roof over her family’s head.

She urged others to come to City Hall or call or go online to apply for the same program she did. ​“For you out there, they are willing to help you guys,” she said to anyone who may be listening who is in a similar spot to the one she was in a little more than a month ago. ​“Come down to City Hall, and they will help you if they can.”

"People Need Housing"

Elicker, Samuel and Sabin spent most of Tuesday’s press conference detailing exactly how these two newly launched programs will work.

“Everyone knows that having a safe, warm, clean, quality home helps you thrive,” the mayor said. ​“And if you don’t have those attributes, you’re not going to be successful in whatever endeavor you go on.”

Samuel agreed. ​“People need housing,” she said. ​“There is an affordable housing shortage.” 

With the newly launched security deposit assistance program, she said, ​“hopefully more people will be able to find a home and move in quicker rather than being homeless or living with a friend.” And the expanded downpayment assistance program will help more aspiring homeowners ​“have as much equity” as they can when looking to buy a house.

How do these programs work?

The security deposit program covers security deposits worth up to two months’ rent, or a cap of $5,000, for renters who make no more than 300 percent of the federal poverty guidelines for the New Haven/Meriden area. That translates to between $38,640 for a one-person household to $79,500 for a family of four.

Samuel said that income-eligible renters can also receive an additional up to $1,500 in utility assistance through this program. This security deposit aid will be paid directly by the city to the landlord, Samuel said.

Elicker and Samuel said that this security deposit assistance program should help roughly 600 New Haven households.

The downpayment assistance program, meanwhile, already exists and currently provides up to $10,000 in the form of a 0 percent interest forgivable loan for first-time homebuyers looking for help with downpayment and closing costs on a one- to four-unit home. 

Elicker and Samuel said that this latest expansion of that program means that first-time homebuyers who make less than 300 percent of the federal poverty level for the area will get an additional $15,000 in downpayment assistance. That’s on top of the $10,000 already provided through this program.

City employees, teachers, firefighters, and police officers are also eligible for an additional $2,500 in downpayment assistance through this program.

“Folks are struggling in our city to keep a roof over their heads and build wealth long term,” Sabin said. Safe, stable, affordable housing is critical for achieving both of those goals, he said. Thus the importance of these two newly launched, federally funded, city-run programs.