Friday, April 25, 2025
4/25/2025
Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending - Construction - This fixed equipment construction project will support improving access to behavioral health and substance use treatment services for underserved and under-resourced individuals across the lifespan in the geographic catchment area of greater Bridgeport, Connecticut. Subpopulations served as a result of this project include racial, ethnic, gender, and sexual minorities, foreign-born residents, and individuals with Limited English Proficiency (LEP). In a 2019 assessment, 71% of respondents indicated that Bridgeport residents only sometimes or rarely had mental and behavioral health care access. In recognition of the need for expanded access to behavioral health services in the greater Bridgeport community, CPF/CDS funds will be used to replace the agency’s hydraulic elevator, originally installed in 1965. The elevator has exceeded its useful life, is now inoperable, and requires complete modernization. To allow LifeBridge to expand its clinical services to the second floor of the building, the elevator will need to be replaced. Replacing the elevator will address the issue of equitable access for individuals with mobility issues, including older adults, and enable the agency to align with the standards within the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to ensure people with disabilities receive reasonable accommodations to participate in society—including access to public and commercial buildings – and access to behavioral health and substance use treatment services. The significant challenges and health needs of urban Bridgeport stem from long-standing and systemic factors such as historical trauma, poverty, the prevalence of violence, and educational and economic inequality largely demarcated along lines of race – all risk factors to mental health. The city of Bridgeport, in Fairfield County, has one of the highest poverty rates in the state. While the average poverty rate across the county is only 2% (compared to 10% for the state and 15% nationwide), Bridgeport's poverty rate is over ten times as high at 21%. Bridgeport has the lowest median household income in the county, at $45,441, compared to much wealthier neighboring towns like Weston ($219,083) and Darien ($210,511). Another contrast between Bridgeport and the rest of the county is its racial demographics. Fairfield County is 59.8% White (64.6% statewide), while over 80% of Bridgeport’s population is non-White: 34.7% Black, 41.7% Hispanic or Latino, and 7.6% two or more races. Furthermore, 30% of Bridgeport residents are foreign-born, and 22% of those aged five or older are linguistically isolated. Languages other than English are spoken in 48.5% of Bridgeport homes. Well-being disparities in Fairfield County remain among the greatest in the country. The proposed project will help to reduce the prevalence of disparities in population health and wellness.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).