Disaster aid fixed million-dollar homes in CT

Amid revelations about Connecticut's dispersal of of Superstorm Sandy disaster relief funds to wealthy homeowners a decade ago and concerns about what some advocates see as a misuse of federal aid, the state's former housing commissioner says the state simply adhered to federal guidelines for administering the program.

"Connecticut followed all of the federal regulations," said Evonne Klein, who left Connecticut's housing department in 2019 and now leads the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness. "The program that Connecticut developed was based on federal guidelines, and we did not veer off."

On Tuesday, Politico revealed in a lengthy report that a portion of the federal funds intended for low-income Connecticut homeowners affected by Hurricane Sandy were distributed instead to wealthy residents, such as a Greenwich family whose house was valued at $2.6 million. Altogether, Politico reported, owners of houses worth more than $1 million received a total of $6.4 million, about 15 percent of the $44 million in total aid from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Politico's report included quotes from climate justice advocates and disaster aid experts, who questioned how and why the funds had reached those wealthy homeowners, even as poorer residents struggled following the storm. The payments followed a change in HUD policies, which allowed states to reimburse homeowners across the income spectrum.

"It really stinks," Brookings Institution fellow and former HUD analyst Carlos Martín told the publication, which is based in Arlington, Va. "That's not who the disaster recovery program is intended to serve."

In a phone interview Tuesday, Klein countered that the state prioritized low-income residents, offering aid to wealthier households only when there was money left over. She added that not everyone who lives in an expensive house is necessarily wealthy.

"Folks on the upper end of the income scale were the last to receive any kind of funding," she said. "The majority of the funding went to people in lower income brackets."

Klein said HUD audited Connecticut's dispersal of funds at the time and did not raise any concerns. She also noted that Bridgeport, which saw relatively little funding from the relief program, received more than $40 million in disaster resilience funding as part of a separate grant.

A representative from the Connecticut Department of Housing did not respond to several requests for comment from CT Insider, but the agency told Politico that "priority was given to low-income owners, and if there were available funds, then a higher income applicant could receive assistance."

Even if Connecticut's housing department does not appear to have violated the terms of the HUD program, the Politico story notes that the state could have imposed income limits on the program as New Jersey did. Additionally, advocates say Connecticut and other states could do a better job conducting outreach to the people who need aid most, to ensure they are aware of the funds available.

Alex Starapoli of the New Jersey-based Fair Share Housing Center said in an email that the distribution of federal funds to high-income families "certainly raises questions about how outreach was handled."

"While the Connecticut story is certainly an egregious example, around the country low-income communities and people of color are often left behind in recovery efforts despite being hit the hardest," Starpoli said. "To truly ensure equitable recovery after a disaster, low-income families and communities of color must be prioritized."

According to Connecticut's state website, the HUD program was "designed to meet the unmet housing needs of communities most impacted by Superstorm Sandy including the costs of repairs, reconstruction and new construction that insurance, FEMA and any other sources of funding does not cover."

The headline quote in the Politico article came from an organizer with the Connecticut Coalition for Economic and Environmental Justice, who said the distribution of funds to wealthy residents "makes my brain hurt right now." Sharon Lewis, the coalition's executive director, told CT Insider that the quoted organizer left the group at the end of October and that her quote "is not something anyone here would say."

Even so, Lewis noted that low-income people and people of color are often hit hardest by disasters but least likely to receive help.

"When it comes to allocating resources and funds for rebuilding, most times people are not aware the funds and resources are available and when they are made aware the process is off-putting, demeaning, and cumbersome," Lewis wrote in an email. "The needs are urgent but the response is delayed and denied."

Lewis said in the future she'd like to see people more directly impacted by natural disasters "be at the decision-making tables to allocate resources." Otherwise, she said, the same pattern will repeat with future disasters.

"What I'm trying to say is this is nothing new," Lewis said. "We already know it happens and it happens everywhere in all things. It all boils down to money, power, and race."

alex.putterman@hearstmediact.com