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Housing issues affect everyone in Connecticut, from those who are searching for a safe place to live, to those who may find it increasingly difficult to afford a place they already call home.WNPR is covering Connecticut's housing and homelessness issues in a series that examines how residents are handling the challenges they face. We look at the trends that matter most right now, and tell stories that help bring the issues to light.

Trying to Tackle Blight in Hartford

Jeff Cohen
/
WNPR

In old cities with old housing, blight is a constant concern. Now, Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra is boosting a program to give residents money to fix up their homes. 

It's a generous program. If you own and live in a property in Hartford, and that property has no more than three units, you may be eligible for as much as a $30,000, zero interest loan to repair the outside of your house. If you stay for five years, you don't pay anything back.

It's also a modest program. The city has set aside just $300,000 so far. A lot of that money comes from a program where the city charges property owners after doing things like boarding up their buildings for them. Segarra announced the program standing outside a city home that has newly revamped porches. He said all work in the program will be done by Hartford contractors.

"We're trying to be fair by having properties done in all different sectors of the city," he said. "We're trying to help especially the elderly and folks that are having some economic challenges. And we hope that we can continue to grow this program."

The blight fund is overseen by a department that was in the news over a year ago for financial missteps. The city said that department is now completely restructured.

Jeff Cohen started in newspapers in 2001 and joined Connecticut Public in 2010, where he worked as a reporter and fill-in host. In 2017, he was named news director. Then, in 2022, he became a senior enterprise reporter.

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