BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (WTNH) — Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Conn.) announced he is allocating millions in state aid money to help people enrolled in workforce training programs pay their rent. Qualified Connecticut residents can not only get free training for certain in-demand jobs, but they can also get help paying the rent while they do it. “I used to have to take on extra jobs, do Uber, do Doordash, anything to just pay my bills,” said Luan Rodriguez, who is getting training and rent assistance through the program. “I can just take that time to study, and get good grades.” She is a now phlebotomist at Bristol Hospital. She is getting her training through the state’s CareerConneCT program. People enrolled in that program can get money to pay the rent. “They’re going to get an advanced payment, or their landlords will for the cost of rent,” explained Joe Carbone, the CEO of The Workplace, an employment agency in Bridgeport. “This is to relieve them so that they can worry less about paying the rent for a few months.” The state is now dedicating $30 million in Covid relief money to the rent stipend program. Lamont said the free training has already led to thousands of jobs. “But just the skill and the place and the opportunity sometime not enough as well,” said Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Connecticut). “Sometimes people just need a little extra help.”
Connecticut has a lot of employers desperately in need of workers with proper training, and they don’t want something like the rent to get in the way of people getting that training “It makes a big difference because I don’t have to worry about getting evicted,” Rodriguez said. It’s not just training and rental assistance. Folks can also get help paying for childcare and transportation through CareerConneCT.