HRA - Energy & Housing

For thousands of low-income households, the home heating assistance program filled oil tanks and paid utility bills. Dwellings were made safer for families and children through the Lead Project and many residents maintained their residency through Eviction and Foreclosure Mediation. In keeping with HRA's mission, Energy and Housing Services help provide New Britain residents a safe and secure place to reside. Read our Success Story

Energy Assistance - Energy assistance is a program that helps people who have difficulty paying the cost of heating their home. Through an intake and assessment process, Energy Assistance staff determine how HRA and its services can best help lower energy costs. the primary goal of this program is to keep households warm and safe during the winter months.

Project REACh - Project REACh is a program for people with high utility bills who struggle to live within their budget. Through an assessment and subsequent case management clients learn techniques to lower their utility bills. Often the case managers will work with landloards to help them find interest free loans and/or grants to update their buildings, resulting in lower utility bills for their tenants.

Eviction and Foreclosure Mediation - Eviction and Foreclosure mediation are programs that provide services to help people maintain their current housing. Through intervention with landlords and mediation between landlords and tenants, this program aims to develop working relationships between landlords and their tenants.

Mediation Center of New Britain - The primary goal of Community Mediation is to help individuals, families, neighbors and other community entities, through mediation, interact in a manner that helps stabilize communities.

Lead Abatement - The Lead Abatement program wokrs to educate families about the hazards of lead paint and signs of lead poisoning. Program staff also work collaboratively with the community, particularly home owners and landlords on the removal of hazardous paint.

The Lead Case Manager/Relocation specialists work with families to ensure safe and comfortable relocation residency during lead removal.

Success Stories - A young mother came into the Energy Office last year in need of assistance paying her utility bills. The mother's utility bills were well over $1,000 per month and she was making no payments.

With the help of Project Outreach, she was assigned a case manager who helped her complete a WRAP Application (a program that provides services and equipment to improve the energy insulation was installed.) This significantly lowered her utility bills and the mother worked with the utility companies to slowly pay off her debts.

The case manager continued to help the mother achieve greater self-sufficiency by helping her create a resume and assisting her through the job search process. She is now working 30 hours a week, is off state assistance, and paid off al her debt.