Description
The Connecticut Housing Coalition represents the broad, vibrant network of community-based, affordable housing activity across the state. The more than 250 member organizations which comprise the Coalition include non-profit developers, social service agencies, resident associations, and diverse other housing practitioners and advocates. INFORMATION /NETWORKING SERVICES -Since our founding in 1981, the Coalition has become the primary communication link for local housing efforts, the "switchboard" through which organizations and individuals concerned about housing share information and advice, learning from each other's experiences. The Connecticut Housing Coalition serves as a resource center for member organizations and housing activists: our staff responds to wide-ranging questions and we make available our in-house resources. Most important, we help "make connections" among people working for decent, affordable housing in local communities. Their resources-are too scarce, their energies are too precious, to be squandered on re- inventing the wheel. POLICY ANALYSIS AND ADVOCACY -The Coalition seeks to ensure that the shaping of public policy benefits from the experiences and perspectives of those working to solve our housing problems on a daily basis. For example, we played a leading role in: · .Establishing innovative programs-such as mutual housing, limited equity cooperatives, and community land trusts-in state law to develop housing for lower income citizens utilizing social forms of ownership and management; · .Overcoming exclusionary zoning, through statutes such as the landmark Affordable Housing Appeals Procedure and a requirement that local zoning address regional housing needs; · .Expanding the state's Housing Tax Credit Program to finance affordable housing construction and rehabilitation; · .Cutting red tape with state housing agencies, including creation of a Nonprofit Developer Liaison Committee and reduction of state fees on assisted housing. · .Winning federal fair housing funds for our state, creating the new Connecticut Fair Housing Center to challenge housing discrimination. We also participate in nationally coordinated, grassroots mobilizations to impact federal housing policy, "on issues including the HUD budget, the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, public housing reform, and the preservation of privately-owned, federally-assisted housing stock. CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS -Our annual conference, membership meetings and special workshops provide educational opportunities for Coalition members and the public. Topics we have covered include: financing of housing development, models in housing management, tenant rights and responsibilities, homeownership opportunities, housing integration strategies, homelessness prevention, community reinvestment, regionalism, and federal housing policy. NEWSLETTER -The Coalition newsletter has become a dependable source of practical information for our members. Our quarterly publication and periodic news alerts feature updates on state and federal housing policy, articles on significant local activities, and notices of new housing publications and resources. PUBLIC HOUSING RESIDENT NETWORK -Through the Network, with staff support from the Coalition, public housing leaders come together for mutual support, training, and coordinated advocacy. The Network holds bi-monthly meetings and issues its statewide newsletter on alternate months. PARTNERSHIP FOR STRONG COMMUNITIES -The new Partnership is a collaboration of five statewide organizations working to assure that all people have the housing and necessary services to live in dignity .The Connecticut Housing Coalition joins with the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, Connecticut AIDS Residence Coalition, Corporation for Supportive Housing, and National Alliance for the Mentally III (NAMI -CT) , to strengthen and unify our grassroots . networks in support of our common vision and agenda.
