Refugees Find No Refuge On Nash Street

When kids living in a Nash Street house kept showing up at the hospital with respiratory problems, city housing inspector Rafael Ramos went to their home and found black mold covering the bedroom walls of an apartment holding 11 Congolese refugees.

Ramos condemned 17 Nash St.‘s first floor on Dec. 22. The family has since been living in a hotel — at the Nash Street landlord’s expense — until they can find another place to live.

This month, Ramos returned and condemned the second floor, removing two other refugees who were living there, after pipes burst on the third floor.

“In the seven years I’ve been doing this, this has been our most serious problem,” said Chris George, the head of Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS). That organization helped settle the Congolese family in New Haven when it first arrived more than two years ago.

IRIS did not and would not have placed the family in the 17 Nash St. home, and tried to help the family deal with problems there even though the refugees had already graduated from IRIS’s settlement program, George said.

Now IRIS is reconsidering some of its policies, looking to see if the period of supervision of new refugees should be extended to ensure the safety and success of settlements. And the city is looking to work more closely with IRIS to see that other newcomers to the United States don’t end up in similar straits.

The property slipped through the cracks of the city’s Residential Licensing Program. That program is designed to ensure that the city safeguards the living conditions of all renters, even if — like some new immigrants — they don’t speak English well or otherwise aren’t equipped to complain about their situation.

The Residential Licensing Program requires that most non-owner occupied rental properties be inspected every two years. But 17 Nash St. was incorrectly listed on the city tax rolls as an owner-occupied property and thus avoided regular inspection.

Ramos said proposed changes to the program—now in front of the Board of Aldermen—would help to prevent that kind of oversight.

Landlords Helen and Kojo Gyamfi could not be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, 17 Nash St. remains boarded up, with a city lien in place to cover the cost of housing the family of 11 at a local motel. After the family left on Dec. 22, water pipes on the third floor burst and the city removed two men living on the second floor.

Self-Sufficiency

The family arrived from Congo ​“at least two years ago,” said George. ​“We placed them in a very nice four-bedroom on Nash initially, and then their second placement was another three-bedroom on Nash.”

The family later moved on their own to 17 Nash St., where they were paying very low rent, George said. ​“They went there and we had less contact with them.”

“The majority of our assistance is in the first few months or year, and then it starts to drop off,” George said. IRIS finds homes in New Haven each year for about 150 refugees, who can move where they choose after their initial settlement, he said.

“We can’t control what a family does on their own, especially when the whole point is to help people become self-sufficient,” he said.

The family chose to move to an apartment that IRIS would never have placed refugees in, George said. ​“We were not placing anyone in Helen (Gyamfi)‘s apartments,” he said. ​“IRIS’ policy is to put people where the landlords are responsive and the apartments are safe and clean. Helen and her apartments did not meet those standards.”

Spiral

According to a neighbor, who asked not to be named, 17 Nash St. has been ​“spiraling down” for while. (Click here to read a story about mice infesting the property.)

About nine months ago, the family of 11 moved into the first-floor apartment, and the complaints began. SeeClickFix, the community problem-solving website, has over 10 active complaints connected to 17 Nash St.

“They filled the backyard completely with junk,” the neighbor said. She said she saw sofas, chairs, upholstered furniture, toys, and bikes back there. The family was noisy at all hours of the night, and neighbors suspected prostitutes were visiting the second-floor apartment, she said. They would see women coming and going and find used condoms around, she said.

“The vast majority of refugees make great neighbors and American citizens,” George said. ​“But refugees are human beings and there are going to be problems. Many refugees have suffered horrendous persecution and come with serious psychological problems and the adjustment to new society and culture is difficult for them.”

George said he heard about the problems from neighbors. ​“I visited the family a couple of times. I met with them in the backyard to go over the problems. I never went into the house. I realize now that was a mistake.”

IRIS’ education coordinator was working with the kids in the family and a case manager also met with the family, George said. ​“This has been a serious problem and IRIS has devoted a lot of resources.”

Matt Smith, who was the local alderman at the time, got involved. He said there were reports of drug-dealing and prostitution at the address. He said he helped bring in the Livable City Initiative. He also spoke with IRIS head George about the house, he said.

Jessica Holmes, the ward’s current alderwoman, also lives on Nash Street. She said she’s also been working with LCI to address neighborhood complaints about the property. This week she said she helped make sure the windows on the house’s first floor were all boarded up properly.

LCI’s Ramos paid a visit in November. He found that the family was doing laundry in the backyard and hanging clothes on neighbors’ fences. He was able to get them to clean up the backyard.

Inside, he visited the kitchen and living room, but the family wouldn’t allow him into bedrooms. He cited the landlord for a number of violations, including backyard maintenance, window repairs needed, chipped and peeling paint, and a problem with the kitchen ceiling.

Then on Dec. 22, Ramos got a call from a medical anthropologist working at the Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital, who said he had visited 17 Nash St. after kids living there kept showing up at the hospital with respiratory problems.

Ramos visited the house and went into the bedrooms he hadn’t visited earlier. He took pictures of what he found there: Black mold covering the walls, right next to beds where children slept.

Somehow moisture was entering the home through the walls, seeping in and warming up, making it an ideal environment for mold growth. Airborne mold spores were then making the children sick. Ramos immediately condemned the first floor and LCI found the family a place to stay in a hotel.

LCI returned earlier this month after pipes burst in the third floor. The furnace apparently broke, lowering temperatures and bursting pipes, Ramos said. LCI removed two single men — also refugees — living on the second floor.

Ramos said LCI has previously cited the Gyamfis for violations at other properties. He said what happened at 17 Nash St. is a perfect example of why the residential licensing program is important. ​“This family didn’t know that they could complain without retribution. They didn’t know we have ordinances in place to protect their health and safety.”

LCIRIS

“The lesson for us is some families need much more and longer term assistance with adjustment and we are going to have to find ways to increase our resources so that we can provide them,” George said.

IRIS will not be changing its policy of settling refugee families in scattered sites in East Rock, George said. ​“We still believe that the best way to do refugee resettlement in New Haven is to spread our families around and put them in welcoming neighborhoods and not cluster them in small areas and create refugee ghettoes.”

In the wake of what happened at Nash Street, LCI is looking to work more closely with IRIS, said LCI head Erik Johnson.

LCI has not had problems with IRIS previously, and has not had a ​“formal relationship” with the organization. ​“The goal is to have one so that we don’t have situations like this.”

LCI would be willing to inspect properties in advance of refugee placement, Johnson said.

“That’s a great idea,” said George. ​“But again, that recommendation was prompted by a situation that was not the result of poor placement by IRIS.” Nevertheless, increased coordination between IRIS and LCI would be a good thing, he said.

Ramos said LCI could consult with IRIS about the history of properties and landlords the agency is considering for new arrivals. ​“I think that would help us all out,” he said. ​“Rather than going after the fact.”

George said IRIS, LCI, and the Department of Children and Families are now working together to find a safe new home for the family of 11.

“New Haven is one of the best places in the country to settle refugees,” George said. ​“It’s really something the city can be proud of. But every now and then we have to deal with problems.”