The opening of 122 Wilton Road — Westport’s new 19-unit affordable housing building across the Saugatuck River from downtown — shined a new spotlight on an issue the town (and county, state and nation) are addressing with ever-increasing urgency.
Westport has done a better job than many similar communities. We supported one of the first homeless shelters in any suburb anywhere. Homes with Hope — which operates 122 Wilton Road — has evolved with the times and needs, and today is stronger and more efficient than ever.
Still, their mission — to end homelessness in Fairfield County — is enormous, and seemingly impossible to achieve.
The Westport Housing Authority, formed just after World War II to help returning veterans, oversees 4 residential communities — Canal Park, Hales Court, Hidden Brook and Sasco Creek Village — with professional management, resident services, and outreach and support.
But their wait lists are closed.
Among Westport’s affordable housing options: Sasco Creek Village.
Still, Westport continues to seek solutions. The need for affordable housing is not just a moral issue; it involves the economy and jobs; education and the next generation, and much more.
Last winter, the Representative Town Meeting created an Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Money from land purchases, house construction and market rate housing sales will be used to build affordable housing. It could generate up to $1 million annually.
Fairfield and New Canaan have similar funds.
Last month, the RTM appointed 5 members to the Affordable Housing Fund Committee to will oversee the money.
They are former Board of Finance member James Foster, former assistant town attorney Gail Kelly, former Planning & Zoning Commission member Jon Olefson, investment banker Kate Weber, and retired institutional asset manager Ralph Yearwood.
Ralph Yearwood
The other day, Yearwood — a Harvard College and Business School graduate; Westporter since 1984; father of 3 children who went through the local school system; volunteer with a food pantry and after-school learning program, and a Norwalk Public School mentor, as well as treasurer of Homes with Hope — chatted with “06880” about the new committee.
“Everyone should have sufficient food, housing, education, healthcare and security,” he said, describing his volunteer efforts in general, and his motivation to serve on the Affordable Housing Fund Committee.
Members have not yet held their first meeting. They’ll meet individually with 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker, before convening as a group.
When they get together, they’ll assess their tasks: to study the town’s existing plan for affordable housing; inventory the sites that may be suitable for affordable housing; track the availability of those properties, and determine how to purchase and fund those sites.
Yearwood is proud that there is a consensus in Westport around the need for affordable housing. The state mandates that 10% of units built since 1990 be deemed “affordable,” according to an income formula.
19 apartments at 122 Wilton Road are Westport’s newest affordable housing units.
But, Yearwood says, the interest of residents goes beyond state requirements.
“Having affordable housing enables you to attract better employees,” he says.
“There’s a direct benefit to teachers, first responders, retail workers and others.”
Affordable housing is also a means of reducing homelessness. And yes, there are homeless people in Westport, he notes.
In addition, the opportunity for children to get a good education helps end inter-generational poverty, whose effects are borne by all taxpayers.
The details and timeline of the Affordable Housing Fund Committee are still to come.
But Ralph Yearwood and his fellow members feel right at home in their work.
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