$2M from sale donated to housing fund
October 4 , 2004 ; As originally appeared in Stamford
Advocate, by Joy Woodson
STAMFORD
-- The Interfaith Council last week donated $2 million from
the sale of Friendship House to the Housing Development Fund,
an affordable-housing agency that serves Fairfield County.
Joan
Carty, executive director of the agency, said the money will
be used to continue offering down-payment assistance and other
lending programs. The grant comes as low-income housing options
are becoming more costly and more needed in the county, Carty
said.
"Flexible
funds many times can bridge the gap in terms of affordability
and can also be used for predevelopment funds that developers
need to do assessments . . . and bring projects in the pipeline,"
she said.
Gene
Waggaman, board member and former president of the Interfaith
Council, said the housing agency was chosen because the loans
will benefit many families.
"The
board of the council felt very strongly that the founders
of Friendship House intended for their investment to be renewable,"
Waggaman said. "They knew that the building would gain
in equity over the years, but they made it very clear that
they wanted that building to remain affordable for all times."
Friendship
House, a West Side apartment building for low-income renters,
was sold two months ago for $2.3 million to a partnership
formed by Mutual Housing Association of Southwestern Connecticut
and New Neighborhoods Inc. The Housing Development Fund received
most of the money. Other funds went to programs previously
under the Interfaith Council, formerly the Council of Churches
and Synagogues.
Senior
Neighborhood Support Services received $10,000. The Friendly
Visitors and Friendly Shoppers program at Senior Services
of Stamford also received $10,000. The Food Bank of Lower
Fairfield County received $125,000. Another $110,000 was reinvested
in the council.
"We
don't give money away," Waggaman said. "The fact
that we are able to do this is unique in the life of the council,
and the council is 70 years old."
Carty
said the housing agency hasn't strictly allocated the funds,
but expects to help most by granting loans, collecting on
them, then using the money to help others. "We're anticipating
that we will be able to help hundreds more families with this
gift," she said.
The
housing agency and the council began their relationship in
1995 with collaboration on Adopt-A-House, which provides down-payment
assistance to first-time home buyers. The program has helped
300 home buyers, with 75 new home buyers each year.
Copyright
© 2004, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.
|
