RECOVERING ADDICTS ELIGIBLE FOR RENT AID

DANBURY -- The Danbury Housing Authority will provide rental assistance
to people recovering from drug or alcohol addiction now that the agency has
been awarded a federal grant of up to $320,940 for a new program.

Bernard Fitzpatrick, executive director of the housing authority, said he
learned earlier this week that the Department of Housing and Urban
Development will disburse the money to the authority over the next five
years.

The authority will work with Danbury-based Midwestern Connecticut Council
on Alcoholism, which will identify recipients of the Section 8 rental
vouchers and offer case management services to them.

Fitzpatrick said he expects about 10 people in the program's first year
will be able to get part of their rent covered by the new money. To be
eligible for the rental assistance, a renter must be a client of MCCA and
have low or moderate income. In Danbury, a single person with a salary of
about $33,000 would be eligible, he said.

Joseph Sullivan, executive director of MCCA, said the new program will
address a critical need for many MCCA clients, especially those who are
looking for an affordable place to live so they can leave MCCA's halfway
house in Bridgewater.

Although "rent" is free for the first 90 days at MCCA's McDonough House,
clients have to pay their way after that time, Sullivan said. It is
sometimes difficult for them to save enough money to find a place of their
own, he said.

"We've been working on a number of fronts to try to generate more housing
opportunities for people in recovery," Sullivan said. "It's probably one
of the biggest obstacles for people as they go through our halfway house
to get back into the community."