Top Housing Officials Tell Senate Committee New Approaches Needed to Reach Affordability

Seven years after a catastrophic storm season left hundreds of V.I. residents seeking shelter from their damaged homes, agencies tasked with helping them had limited progress reports for lawmakers.

Officials from the Housing Finance Authority and the Office of Disaster Recovery testified before the 35th Legislature Committee on Housing, Transportation, and Telecommunications Wednesday to share updates on a continuing recovery effort.

Eugene Jones, executive director of the Housing Finance Authority, and Adrienne Octalien-Williams, director of the Office of Disaster Recovery, led the presentations to the committee. Jones told lawmakers that the territory currently has no stock of temporary emergency housing. Despite granting extensions and making referrals over the past 18 months, all tenants currently residing in emergency housing are ineligible to stay and have declined relocation, the executive director said.

The tenants’ refusal to relocate will hinder Housing Finance from offering emergency housing to anyone needing help in the future, Jones said. There was a more optimistic picture when the discussion turned to repairs and reconstruction of damaged homes. With help about 50 contractors, 35 homes have been completed, and 87 more are in the construction phase, Octalien-Williams said.