Greenwich United Way CEO David Rabin speaks during the town of Greenwich's Youth Services Bureau panel discission on the wealth gap in Greenwich at Town Hall in Greenwich, Conn., on Wednesday September 28, 2022. Several notable speakers were on hand including First Selectman Fred Camillo, State Rep. Stephen Meskers, Mehmet Cansoy, Associate Professor at Fairfield University and Commissioner of Human Services Demetria Nelson.Christian Abraham/Hearst Connecticut Media
GREENWICH — Many believe the stereotype that Greenwich's “streets are paved in gold,” said David Rabin, CEO of the Greenwich United Way. But the truth is that the town is greatly diverse in its population, he said, with many living paycheck to paycheck.
Rabin took part in a panel discussion that focused on "Exploring the Wealth Divide in Greenwich" that was put together by the First Selectman’s Diversity Advisory Committee. Much of that discussion Wednesday night focused on town residents in the ALICE category — which stands for asset limited, income constrained and employed — who may be working but are one missed paycheck, an illness or an unexpected expense from disaster.
“We don’t have the latest data, but prepandemic, about 23 percent of the folks who live in Greenwich are what we call ALICE,” Rabin said. “Then we have 7 (percent) or 8 percent who are below the federal poverty level. That totals up to about, if you can believe it, a third of the town of Greenwich that is a flat tire away from financial disaster. When you tell people, that the look on their faces is unbelievable.”
Also, nearly 25 percent of the 9,000 children in the Greenwich Public Schools are on the free and reduced lunch program, he said, with 60 percent to 70 percent at Julian Curtiss School, Hamilton Avenue School, New Lebanon School and Western Middle School, which are all on the western end of town.
Mehmet Cansoy, an associate professor at Fairfield University, brought a map to the event that showed a “clear division” of town — with the Interstate 95 corridor made up of renters and the rest of Greenwich largely filled with homeowners.
Another map showed a similar breakdown on public assistance, with the large majority of those getting help concentrated along the I-95 corridor, he said. And “a lot more people need it than qualify for it,” said Cansoy, who has helped the Greenwich United Way with its needs assessment of the town.
A consequence of the wealth divide — not just in Greenwich but in the entire country — is a decline in social mobility, which is the belief that if people “they have the necessary merit and are willing to work hard and smart they can move up in the world and make more money than their parents,” Cansoy said,
The lack of affordable housing — and the need to locate it along public transportation routes so residents can get around — came up several times. A town such as Greenwich can focus on programs and policies that improve social mobility, he said, including more access to child care, further investment in education and expanded free and reduced lunch programs, which he said is critical for addressing food insecurity.
Cansoy also suggested the addition of more affordable housing, which he said is “a third rail issue” in many towns in Connecticut but needs to be talked about because people cannot afford to buy or rent in many towns.
Panelist Demetria Nelson, the town’s commissioner of human services, said that housing is a bigger discussion that the town is working on.
Nelson spoke as well about the growing demand from residents for help from the town Department of Human Services. In the 2021 fiscal year, 1,815 households in Greenwich, which covered 4,092 people, received help. For the 2022 fiscal year, that number has increased to 2,100 households and 4,588 individuals, she said.
The panel also included First Selectman Fred Camillo and state Rep. Stephen Meskers, who agreed with Rabin’s view that many prople have misconceptions around Greenwich and its residents.
There is a misperception that everyone in Greenwich lives “behind gates,” said Camillo, who pointed to his own background that proves that to be false. He said he grew up in a blue-collar part of town with a father who was a Marine drill instructor and whose grandmother lived in affordable housing at Armstrong Court.
“There are 63,500 people here and lots of people will go to bed tonight not knowing what next week brings because they struggle,” he said. “Coming from a background where not everybody had a lot of money in our family, you kind of get that, but there were people a lot worse than me. My dad grew up in Chickahominy and every year they had to move from apartment to apartment because they had no money.
"My dad gave me a life. I didn’t have to worry about where I was going next year but he did. Those stories are more common than you think in Greenwich,” Camillo said.
He also praised residents for their generosity in donating and volunteering to help others and cited the support given by Greenwich United Way, Neighbor to Neighbor, the Greenwich Alliance for Education, Barbara’s House and others as well as the Department of Human Services.
The view in Hartford, said Meskers, where he serves in the legislature, is that “everyone in Greenwich is driving a Mercedes” which ignores all of the people “living on the edge” financially.
Meskers' House district runs across the Greenwich shoreline, which he said includes some of the wealthiest communities in town as well some of the most economically diverse and limited. It also includes four affordable housing complexes managed by Greenwich Communities.
“We have to recognize that we are a very diverse town, and there are real economic needs and economic problems and limitations in town,” Meskers said. He said he was committed to doing all he could do at the state level because economic issues “were going to mount,” as inflation makes forces up the price of such necessities as food, gasoline and housing while wages do not keep pace.
As part of her presentation, Nelson explained the available services in Greenwich, including vocational and educational programs, job training, early childhood development programs, teen mentoring and temporary financial assistance as well as access to quality mental health, addiction and medical services that accept the state’s Husky health insurance coverage.
“I know sometimes there’s a lot of stigma associated with (asking for help), and what I want to do and what I hope I am able to do is decrease the amount of stigma associated with asking for help — because we are here,” Nelson said. “This is what we are here for. This is the nature of what we do. My life’s purpose is to help others.”