Homelessness Targeted With West Hartford Appropriation

WEST HARTFORD, CT — Local officials last week appropriated some much-needed cash to help local residents in precarious financial situations avoid homelessness.

In a unanimous vote, the West Hartford Town Council Tuesday, March 28, voted 9-0 to appropriate money from a federally-funded United Way program to help folks with their mortgage, rent or metered utility bills.

The $4,858 in funding came from the United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut, which was appointed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to distribute cash from FEMA's Emergency Food and Shelter Program.

As a result, the town council put the funding into the Town of West Hartford Social Services Department budget, which it applied for and received from the United Way.

The vote was the final, necessary approval needed to get the grant funding into social services' coffers and be used to help people.

West Hartford Town Manager Rick Ledwith told the council that social services officials were planning to update the council's human and community services committee in May on how the grant dollars would specifically be used.

He said the goal was to get the money appropriated prior to that update.

"It's not a tremendous amount of money there, but we'll have a more formal plan in terms of what we can discuss with the council at that point," Ledwith said.

Council members did not have any comment.

For the minutes of the March 28 West Hartford Town Council meeting, click on this link.

For more information on the resolution authorizing the appropriation, click on this link and scroll to Page 22.