It all begins with an idea.
Back in the late 1980’s a group of motivated and dedicated New Milford citizens formed New Milford Affordable Housing (NMAH)
Donald Rackliffe, Brian Arnold, Terry Pelligrini, Walter Rogg, Patricia Tripp, Marsha LaTour, Nicholas Romaniello, George Doring, Ruth Malins, Barbara Wollkind, Thomas Leahey, Jr., Betty Halpine, Brookes Temple, Robert Rush, and Martha McMahon recognized that there was a need for affordable and supportive housing in the greater New Milford region. They banded together and formed New Milford Affordable Housing (NMAH). NMAH became a legal nonprofit corporation in December 1990 and has been helping local people who need housing ever since.
It was important to the founders that NMAH be a nonprofit so that NMAH could focus on providing excellent affordable and supportive housing for the community rather than profit. NMAH is the only nonprofit in the area that is building affordable and supportive housing for all ages and socio-economic ranges. While there are other affordable housing projects in the area, they are either built by for-profit developers who must consider profit when operating their properties or elderly only properties. With continued help from donations and grants, NMAH can consider the welfare of the community and its residents free from profit influences.
NMAH has built two major affordable/supportive projects in New Milford: Indian Field a 40 unit affordable complex off Fort Hill Ave and Brookside Commons a 12 unit supportive housing complex on Thomas Lane. Both are located near downtown New Milford and transportation and have handicap accessible units.
How we Help and Who we Help
New Milford Affordable Housing helps those in need of supportive and affordable housing by providing low-cost clean modern housing. Affordable Housing is what we help with, who we help is the heart of everything. We help people. Most of who we help are children and families. We help those who are the most vulnerable and in most need of help. Many of who we help were in a homeless shelter or other types of shelters before coming to us. We help through housing and supportive programs.
At Brookside Commons Apartments all of the units are supportive units. They are for individuals and families who earn less than 30% of the average mean income (as determined by HUD) for the Greater New Milford area. These units are supportive housing. Supportive units help people become productive members of society through an innovative program of providing life assistance services (like case managers), life skills building programs in addition to the low-cost housing. Our on-site staff is highly skilled in responding to the unique needs of this community. Through this supportive mix of additional services, people living at Brookside gradually get helped to find employment, establish basic credit, learn to budget, and eventually, they get to a point where they are ready to move on to more conventional housing and live productively on their own.
At Indian Field, all the units are for individuals and families earning no more than 50% of the average mean income (as determined by HUD) for the Greater New Milford area. Many at Indian Field are hard-working people earning at or near minimum wage, trying to raise their families in a healthy safe environment. In order to do that they need the affordable housing that Indian Field provides. Indian Fields has a community house where the Indian Field Community can come together to socialize, have continuing ed classes, life enrichment programs, and much more.
In addition to the above, New Milford Affordable Housing is active in the community, lobbying for legislation that supports those in need of housing, participating in other outreach programs and groups.
50% of those helped are single-parent families
83% of those helped are female
54% of those helped are children
33% have mental health challenges
25% had had substance issues
8% are over the age of 65
25% are Veterans
What is Affordable Housing?
Affordable housing is housing that is deemed affordable to those with a median household income or below as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines an "affordable dwelling" as one that a household can obtain for 30 percent or less of its income. For example, a household is considered "low-income" if it makes less than 80 percent of the median income in the local area (this is called Area Median Income, or AMI). Affordable Housing can be privately owned and developed by either non-profits or for-profit organizations. Affordable Housing can range from single-family residences to townhouses to condominiums to apartment housing.
Affordable Housing is sometimes confused with low-income government housing. While government-owned low-income housing is affordable housing, most affordable housing is not government-owned low-income housing.
What is Supportive Housing?
Supportive housing is a combination of housing and services intended as a cost-effective way to help people live more stable, productive lives, and is an active "community services and funding" stream across the United States. Supportive Housing helps vulnerable people live and thrive in a community.
Everyone needs safe, decent, stable housing. For some of the most vulnerable people in America — people with mental illness, chronic health conditions, histories of trauma, and other struggles — a home helps them to get adequate treatment and start on the path toward recovery. But some conditions make it difficult for people to maintain a stable home without additional help. Supportive housing, a highly effective strategy that combines affordable housing with intensive coordinated services, can provide that needed assistance.
Living without stable housing can drastically worsen health. Homelessness can exacerbate mental illness, make ending substance abuse difficult, and prevent chronic physical health conditions from being addressed. People with these and other health issues often end up in crisis situations while living on the streets, and emergency rooms may be the only health care they are able to access.
Although affordable housing is part of the solution, some people may need their housing coupled with supportive services to maintain it. For instance, service providers can help people with mental illness pay their rent on time and understand the rights and responsibilities outlined in a lease or can make sure people with chronic illnesses manage their diet and medicine properly, which can keep them out of hospitals or nursing homes.
A broad body of research shows that supportive housing effectively helps people with disabilities maintain stable housing. People in supportive housing use costly systems like emergency health services less frequently and are less likely to be incarcerated. Supportive housing also can aid people with disabilities in getting better health care and help seniors trying to stay in the community as they age and families trying to keep their children out of foster care.
