Our Story
Our society works best when workers are healthy, paid well, and live in the town in which they work or have public transportation to their workplace, and when retirees have enough wherewithal to meet their necessities with some money leftover for recreation, among other things. However, since the crash of 2008 and then later with the onset of Covid, housing problems sprang up, affecting adversely those in our midst who had/have low to moderate incomes, moving some to the edge of a financial cliff.
Fewer and fewer homes were built for those with modest incomes. For-profit developers virtually stopped constructing starter homes. Instead they followed the money, building for the middle, upper, and uber-upper income folks. And when Covid caused supply chain glitches, increasing the cost of building materials, new housing slumped, and up and up soared rents and mortgages. In short, a housing shortage in the U.S. reached a crisis. Competition for a home--single home, apartment, condo--became fierce, with some bidders on a home guaranteeing the seller $3k or even up to $16k (or more) higher than the highest bidder. Many landlords have taken advantage of the crisis by raising rents.
Where did/does this leave those folks--especially seniors, people of color, and single parents--with low to moderate incomes? Paying more than they can afford for a rent, mortgage, or HOA, sometimes as much as 50% of their income on housing. What happens when they have to spend more than 30% on housing? In general they sacrifice their health and well-being by buying fast foods; not eating well; not taking full doses of some meds; not getting medical checkups; driving an old, undependable car; lowering or raising the thermostat to save money; and/or worrying about finances till the stress exacerbates their health, physical and mental.
Aware of all this, 22 of us Southburians came together in late 2019 via Zoom to discuss this worsening situation with an eye to helping rectify it, and for 2 years we studied affordable housing (AH). We conferred with the DOH and leading authorities and AH nonprofits in CT; visited a long-established, successful AH development in Kent; and had consultant sessions with the executive head of a Waterbury nonprofit now called NEST CT. In addition we joined Desegregate CT, attended regional conferences, read up on AH, and acquired a renowned AH consultant, David Berto, whose nearly 30 years' experience with creating AH throughout CT made him CT's go-to AH consultant. After countless Zoom sessions with David, our grassroots committee was ready for action. We obtained approval from the IRS to establish our present 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which you can follow/support on Facebook at Southbury Affordable Housing Alliance as well as our website. And we've hosted educational public forums, written articles and letters to the editor, and posted on Facebook--all while looking high and low for buildable land.
Our goal, along with educating Southburians about what AH is, is to help provide a diversity of 100% AH (rentals, homeownership, with a varying number of bedrooms) for a diversity of people (all ages, heritages, genders, incomes below 80% of our area's median income), such that residents can budget for all necessities and live comfortably, safely, healthily. And because landscaping, aesthetics, and sustainability are key to our goal, our plans are to build attractive, durably constructed AH with passive solar and, assuming funding will permit, solar roof panels. Trees and shrubs, some ornamental, will grace the development and offer environmental benefits. A lottery and careful vetting of applicants will determine residency (existing AH in CT indicates that most residents either already live in town or have a strong connection to the town--e.g., workers in town who live elsewhere because they can't find an apartment/house within their budget).
Hundreds of people in town need AH. SAHA would like to create 180-200 AH units on 45 acres of Southbury Training School (across the street from the main campus, set way back from the road), but whether it does depends solely on the Board of Selectmen. We hope they come to see that AH increases a town's economy, ensures a strong pool of workers, can help lower property taxes, won't create traffic jams (AH residents have fewer cars and make fewer trips than residents in single-family homes, and a traffic light will regulate traffic). will leaven community spirit, and, just as important, will better the lives of teachers, first responders, healthcare workers, food service employees, bank tellers, and seniors, among others, all of whom make Southbury a desirable place to put down roots.
