BOSTON - The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending almost $8.2 million to the State of Connecticut to reimburse the state for the costs of sheltering homeless populations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The $8,165,739 FEMA Public Assistance grant to the Connecticut Department of Housing (CTDOH) will reimburse it for the cost of housing vulnerable homeless populations in hotel rooms to remove them from congregate shelters.
In consultation with the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CTDPH), the state identified those homeless individuals and families that were over the age of 60 and immediately placed them in hotels. The state then used CDC-recommended social distance spacing to determine that approximately 850 rooms would be needed for this purpose.
Due to the shutdown of services, most hotels were left with full vacancies. As a result, the state was able to contract with these hotels at a rate significantly below the average hotel room rate, and most rates averaged between $60 and $70 a night.
“FEMA is pleased to be able to assist the State of Connecticut with these costs," said FEMA Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich. “Providing resources for our partners on the front lines of the pandemic fight is critical to their success, and our success as a nation."
FEMA’s Public Assistance program is an essential source of funding for states and communities recovering from a federally declared disaster or emergency.
So far, FEMA has provided almost $466 million in Public Assistance grants to Connecticut to reimburse the state for pandemic-related expenses.
Source: Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency
