Press Room

Public officials, local organizations, funders, staff, partners and residents celebrated the long awaited opening of the Areyto Apartments in Bridgeport in the late afternoon of Friday November 6 in chilly weather warmed by the sounds of Latin music.

The Areyto Apartments, a significant new asset in the Upper Eastside neighborhood, is a twenty unit supportive housing development designed to provide housing with services to individuals who have experience homelessness with mental health challenges and/or in recovery from chemical dependency.

The project is a development of the Central Connecticut Coast YMCA, Chemical Abuse Services Agency (CASA), and Fairfield 08 with services provided by CASA.

Asher Delerme, Executive Director of CASA, served as Master of Ceremony for this event that hosted a number of officials speaking on the occasion including Bridgeport Mayor, Bill Finch; State Representative Andres Ayala; President and Executive Director of the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, Timothy Bannon; Senior Program Manager, New England, Corporation for Supportive Housing, John Dunne and, Director of Housing and Homeless Services for the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Steve DiLella. The Areyto Apartments architect, Leonardo Rodriquez, was also on hand to partake in the celebration.

Financing for the project was provided under the State sponsored Supportive Housing Pilots Initiative and is part of a statewide program spearheaded by the National Corporation for Supportive Housing, the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority.  The City of Bridgeport contributed the property at 665 Arctic Street to CASA and provided the development with a partial tax abatement.

“Areyto” is an ancient ritual practiced by the Native Americans of the Caribbean and South America in which communities gave thanks and honored each other for the blessings of health, the gift of family and the power of the community.