Whose recovery is this anyway?

The pandemic shutdowns threw tens of thousands of people out of work in Connecticut. Businesses had to close their doors. Essential workers risked their health for low wages and non-existent benefits. Two years later, house prices have surged, businesses are back open, and there seem to be plenty of jobs – so we should be feeling pretty good, right?

But the inequalities that existed in Connecticut well before the pandemic were only worsened by COVID.

In Their Own Words

Connecticut residents and experts share their perspectives with Untold.

  • “When you stop thinking about the ways we move forward as a competition and start thinking about it in terms of abundance, it starts to shift your perspective on what’s possible.” — Janée Woods Weber, CWEALF executive director
  • “We put our all into this. We struggled. And I’m wondering, where is our help coming from?” — Aldrenia Gibbs Davis, owner of Sinclair Auto Palace
  • “I’m still trying to recover, we’re still getting out of the hole. Rent, utilities – we’re still in the process of correcting it.” — Terrell Williams, personal care assistant
  • “It’s hard not to be paying over 30% of your monthly income in rent in Fairfield County. The need is greater than it’s ever been for affordable housing.” — Kevin Moore, director of construction for Habitat for Humanity of Coastal Fairfield County
  • “Electricity bills are higher, the food expense is higher. Having to budget, finance and still keep a happy face on and take care of my kids – it’s been a lot.” — Cindy George, prospective homeowner
  • “I don’t know how kids do it without getting a little help from their parents. Squirreling away enough for a downpayment has got to be very difficult.” — Greg Strub, Habitat for Humanity volunteer

This episode, we’ll hear how the boom in home prices has affected the organizations trying to tackle the affordable housing crisis, and Ryan Martins visits with small business owners around the state to hear how their recovery is going.

Mercy and John talk with Janée Woods Weber, the executive director of CWEALF, the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund.

Organizations featured in this episode:

Challenge assumptions, seek understanding, leave nothing untold. In each episode of Untold we will pass the microphone from the policymakers to the people, connecting with Connecticut’s communities to reframe familiar stories and explore those left untold.