Norwalk City fair housing officer outlines monthly outreach plan, reports early caseload; commission adopts March 24 minutes

Members of the Norwalk City Fair Housing Commission met and heard an update from Sabrina, the city's Fair Housing Officer, who described plans for monthly outreach through 2026, early casework the office has opened in its first three weeks, and operational needs including aged information technology equipment.

Sabrina said the commission received a proclamation and a fair housing banner to mark Fair Housing Month and that the office will hold smaller, targeted events during the coming year rather than a single large event. "We did get a proclamation that is for fair housing month. It is hanging up at the city, as well as our fair housing banner," Sabrina said. She told commissioners the first planned presentation, scheduled for June 1, will include "the commissioner of housing for the state of Connecticut who would like to speak at that event" and will offer a locally focused "Fair Housing 101" tied to Norwalk history.

The nut of Sabrina's report was outreach and education: she said the office will aim for about one event a month, some targeted to particular sectors (developers and architects, community groups, the housing authority) and some hybrid or virtual. "Education outreach is gonna be the main push for this for my first full year leading through to fair housing of 2026," she said. She also described plans to use city spaces and community partners to keep costs low, and to cultivate an email list and Instagram presence for outreach.

On casework, Sabrina said the office had received multiple calls since she started. "Last week, I had a total of 10 calls in 2 weeks, but we've already I've gotten 5 since then," she said. She summarized the early caseload: about 75% of callers were tenants and 25% landlords; roughly 25% of matters raised disability or property-rights issues and 25% concerned lack of access to rent ledgers and documentation (a Fair Rent issue). Sabrina also said the last quarter’s files showed a substantial number of Section 8 retaliation complaints and that she has a meeting scheduled with the housing authority to offer training for staff.

Sabrina said the office and the Fair Rent officer have begun referring matters to each other and that landlords increasingly call the office before taking action. She gave a brief example of an intake where a landlord proposed requiring a single occupant to move from a two-bedroom unit; she told the landlord that such action would violate familial-status protections enforced by fair housing policy. "I did let them know that, unfortunately, you know, I understand them and I hear them. However, that would be going directly against the familial status protection that the fair housing does protect," she said.

Commissioners and community partners offered logistical support. A nonprofit representative offered space at Ben Franklin Elementary School (now used by Family and Children's Agency) for events; Lamont Daniels was recommended as a contact to add Sabrina to a weekly community-provider call and distribution list. Commissioners discussed small outreach needs such as a tablecloth and printed materials; one commissioner suggested the NAACP or commission members could help cover small costs if city funds were tight.

Sabrina also raised an internal equipment issue: she reported that the office's IT is aged and that, because the office is not a city department, IT flagged that the commission would need to handle purchases in-house. "We do have money in the budget for this, but, we're just gonna have to kinda handle it in house. So we'll get some quotes and then bring it to the board so we could just get this stuff going," a commissioner said during the discussion of the IT issue.

On procedural business, the commission voted to adopt the minutes from a special meeting on March 24. The motion to adopt the minutes was moved by Reverend Clark and seconded by Joe Mann; the chair called for the vote and the motion passed unanimously.

Commissioners encouraged Sabrina to continue outreach and to share event invitations and flyers with the commission as they arrive. The commission and community partners agreed to help staff tables and lend resources to increase the office's visibility at upcoming community events.

Ending: Sabrina said she will circulate invites and materials as they become available and will continue coordinating with the housing authority, Fair Rent staff, community providers and commission members on events and trainings.