The Housing Authority of the Town of Greenwich has officially changed its name to Greenwich Communities, in a move that First Selectman Fred Camillo said is more reflective of the work the group does.
At a Sept. 8 ceremony marking the occasion near new townhouses that are part of the first phase of the Armstrong Court rehabilitation Camillo said, “Greenwich Communities is a great name and really appropriate for the work that they’ve done and what’s going on here. I know you’re going to continue to do great work.”
Camillo added that “renaming and rebranding the Housing Authority to a nicer name, a beautiful name, is appropriate coming on the heels of what I think is arguably the most successful run that the Housing Authority has had under the leadership of Anthony Johnson and Sam Romeo and all the commissioners.”
Romeo, chairman of the board of commissioners since 2011, said that the rebranding and the commission’s efforts have been “about the residents, it’s about the community. It’s never about us. All of our residents know that they can count on us. It has been my goal to make the quality of their life better than it was the day before.”
Johnson, executive director since 2006, added, “It”™s not the buildings that matter, it’s the lives that we change. It’s who lives there.”
He noted that Armstrong Court”™s now-empty Buildings 1 and 3 will be renovated with a pitched roof and other upgrades that will aesthetically match the now occupied new townhouses.
Greenwich Communities also owns Greenwich Close across from Town Hall and has invested several millions into that property.
“We’re actually in the process of refinancing that building, and we’ve refinanced other buildings, which makes our whole operation efficient, and is self-sustaining,” Johnson said. “We’re taking buildings from the1950s, and we’re going to transform them. That’s going to be an amazing feat.”
Johnson contracted marketing professionals Bobbi Eggers and Sue Moretti Bodson to spearhead the rebranding of Greenwich Communities, who collaborated with the staff and board of commissioners.
Also on hand for the ceremony were state Sen. Alex Kasser (D-Greenwich); state Rep. Livvy Floren (R-Greenwich), Lauren Rabin and Jill Oberlander of the board of selectmen; Greenwich Communities Commissioners Vincent DeFina and Angelo Pucci; Greenwich Communities Deputy Director Terry Mardula; Parsonage Cottage Administrator Penny Lore; former Housing Authority Chairman Alma Rutgers: and RTM members Linda Moshier and Irene Dietrich.
Congratulatory messages were also read from Connecticut Housing Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno and U.S. Rep. Jim Himes.
