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Lamont Discusses How American Rescue Plan Can Help With Affordable Housing In Connecticut

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont addresses the media in Westport, Conn., on Aug. 7, 2020.
John Minchillo
/
Associated Press
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont addresses the media in Westport, Conn., on Aug. 7, 2020.

Connecticut officials said pandemic relief funds are helping the state find permanent living options for the unhoused.

Governor Ned Lamont joined federal housing secretary Marcia Fudge on Wednesday to discuss how the American Rescue Plan could help. Lamont said he couldn’t house and provide healthcare for thousands without the $58 million in federal assistance.

“We were in a pinch obviously nine months ago. We had to find decompressed housing immediately for all of our population, in this case the homeless population. We had hotels, especially those who were business oriented that were sitting empty. So we moved fast. And as Mayor Bowser said, now the trick is to transition people to permanent housing and that’s our big emphasis now.

Lamont was speaking alongside Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington D.C. Both officials said they are strategizing how to spend the federal housing development money.

Cassandra Basler, a former senior editor at WSHU, came to the station by way of Columbia Journalism School in New York City. When she's not reporting on wealth and poverty, she's writing about food and family.