“Loved Hartford. Also got tired of people talking badly about Hartford, so I decided to be a part of the community and I’ve loved every minute of it,” said Erin Fletcher, originally of Bloomfield.
She hopes to one day move her floral business, Vine & Ivy Flowers, to the Capitol City now that she’s been a happy homeowner there for seven years.
“It was one of the best opportunities of my life,” she said.
The city hopes to have more success stories like Fletcher’s.
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Friday, The Hartford pledged $1 million to a housing initiative led by the Northside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance (NINA).
The program works to save historic homes in Hartford, reduce blight, and keep housing affordable.
Their program helped Fletcher buy her home.
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“It’s a two-family house and it’s been a great investment and I’ve loved the neighborhood and I’ve loved living there," she told NBC Connecticut.
Funding was announced Friday is expected to help NINA renovate more than 20 homes in the next five years in the Asylum Hill neighborhood, like the historic Plimpton House.
We're told it will be built into a three-family home, where an owner will live in the building, profit from their renters, and keep up the property too.
“We think that model of homeownership and rental is a great way to bring stability, strength to a neighborhood but also expand both homeownership and quality rental opportunities,” said Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin.
Renovating historic homes is no easy or cheap feat.
Organizers say it’s a project which can only stay affordable with support from community partners, like The Hartford.
And in turn, it helps their company, which has called Hartford home for decades.
“More activity creates economic leverage, creates restaurants, creates small business owners, which we ensure quite a few, just looking for more vitality,” said Swift.
