Community Corner
Elm City Communities Awarded $3.9M For Safe Public Housing
The grant, administered by the Housing-Related Hazards Capital Fund Program, will enable ECC to eliminate housing-related hazards.
Press release from ECC:
Oct. 10, 2021
Elm City Communities (ECC) announced today they were awarded $3.9 million to evaluate and reduce health hazards in Public Housing. The grant, administered by the Housing-Related Hazards Capital Fund Program as authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, will enable ECC to conduct activities to identify and eliminate housing-related hazards in Public Housing.
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“The health and wellbeing of our residents is always our top priority,” said Karen DuBois-Walton, President of Elm City Communities. “This award allows ECC/HANH to enact its vision where every resident has a safe, decent home and opportunities to fulfill their goals. We look forward to making intentional choices to invest in our community with equity and justice in mind.”
The 2020 Housing-related Hazard Capital Fund NOFO makes $20 million available in new competitive grants for PHAs to identify and eliminate housing-related hazards in public housing such as mold, carbon monoxide, pest infestation, radon, fire hazards, and other housing hazards.
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“With this grant, Elm City Communities will further ensure that all of our residents all have equal access to safe, decent, sanitary, housing,” said Latweeta Smyers, Senior Vice President of Operations at Elm City Communities.” Our housing needs to support the wellness and safety of our residents, not cause illness or injury. So much work has been put into our buildings over the past few years, but this investment will allow ECC and our community to better evaluate, inspect, and resolve hazardous living conditions.”
Adequate housing is universally recognized as one of the most basic needs. The United Nations Center for Human Settlements estimates that over 1 billion people live in inadequate housing in the world, and over 100 million people live in conditions classified as unhoused.
ECC plans to begin remediation work in 2022. In the coming weeks, ECC will also issue requests for proposals to hire contractors that specialize in testing for, identifying, and eliminating housing-related hazards.
To learn more about ECC/HANH, visit www.elmcitycommunities.org.
This press release was produced by ECC. The views expressed here are the author's own.
