Last month, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development must enforce a rule developed during the Obama administration to increase the rent caps for housing voucher recipients in nearly two dozen metro areas around the country, including Hartford. After the ruling, the Connecticut Mirror caught up with Erin Boggs of Open Communities Alliance and attorney Sasha Samberg-Champion who spoke about their lawsuit last December. Here is their take on the decision.
Jamil Ragland
Posted inHealth, News
An unusual collaboration fighting the scourge of Hepatitis-C
While there is wide debate about the effects of the opioid epidemic and other health challenges, the silent scourge of Hepatitis-C is roiling Connecticut’s low-income communities. Hartford official Cecil “Ngoni” Tengatenga is attempting to change that narrative, and he has formed an unusual partnership with the leaders of Baka Fana, a rock band with a political tilt. In this Sunday Conversation they talk about their unusual effort to reach a population that doesn’t read very well.
Posted inHousing, News
Fair housing advocates: HUD’s rule suspension hurting Connecticut families
Erin Boggs, executive director of Open Communities Alliance, and Sasha Samberg-Champion, a lawyer with a Washington, D.C., law firm are representing two clients in Connecticut in an attempt to force HUD to implement the Small Area Fair Market Rent regulation. In this Sunday conversation, Boggs and Samberg-Champion explain the rule and its potential effects on low-income families around the state.
Posted inEconomic Development, Housing
Ortiz: Puerto Rico facing long, challenging recovery — bravely
Jason Ortiz, president of the Connecticut Puerto Rican Agenda, knows how badly Puerto Rico was damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and how important the territory has been to the rest of the United States. He has strong feelings about what it will take to rebuild the island; and in this Sunday Conversation told us how the crisis has brought Puerto Ricans here and on the island together as a people.