Greenwich Communities, formerly known as Greenwich Housing Authority, is the primary provider of low- and moderate-income housing in Greenwich consisting of 1248 apartments and Section 8 Vouchers.
Low-income housing is the most affordable form of housing available to our residents, funded through a combination of federal dollars and tenant rents that are based on 30% of a family’s income. This combination of funding sources does not provide sufficient resources to operate and reinvest in the properties. Greenwich Communities’ low-income properties are Wilbur Peck – family housing, Quarry Knoll 1, and Agnes Morley providing housing for the elderly. The average tenant paid rent for Agnes Morley is $485.00 a month in a building that is heated and cooled through electricity which is paid by Greenwich Communities and not by the tenant. During the most recent spike in electricity cost, Greenwich Communities paid over $800,000 dollars for this commodity that year.
Greenwich Communities has always relied on annual assistance from Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Community Block Program (CDBG) which is federally funded by HUD and administered by the Town. The Town of Greenwich does not provide any town tax dollars to Greenwich Communities. The CDBG program is intended to aid the lowest income residents, especially those in public housing, and our most vulnerable elderly.
However, in recent years Greenwich Communities’ funding request to the CDBG board for replacement of original windows at Agnes Morley or resurface and repair the entry ways to the apartments at Wilbur Peck were rejected, and zero funding was offered toward these improvements.
Gratefully, our First Selectmen, Fred Camillo, through his wisdom and compassion for our most vulnerable communities made an executive decision in both cases to provide $50,000 dollars in funding to help cover the expense of these much-needed improvements and direct the funds to the people HUD intended to assist.
This was not the end of the story. Some people believe that the First Selectman should not have intervened in this process and therefore given Greenwich Communities no funding whatsoever and went public with their opposition to his change in the funding decisions. Is their disagreement based on a belief that our low-income residents are not worthy?
We thank our foresighted courageous First Selectmen, Fred Camillo for taking a stand against this injustice. This is what Leadership is, standing up when others are telling you to sit down!
Sam Romeo,
Chairman of the Board of Commissioners
Anthony L. Johnson,
Executive Director
