[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 192 (Monday, December 12, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1258]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING THE ENDURING CAREER OF ALANNA KABEL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOE COURTNEY

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, December 12, 2022

  Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the career in 
public service of Alanna Kabel of Bridgeport, Connecticut. A housing 
policy guru, Alanna retires from a career that spans 44 years, eight of 
the last with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, on 
December 31, 2022.
  Alanna's service in government goes much further than her time with 
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In 1978, after 
completing a degree in History from Immaculata University, Alanna began 
her career with the City of Bridgeport, first as a Relocation 
Assistant. Though she transitioned between public-service roles over 
the decades, working for other institutions, including the nearby City 
of Norwalk and the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, Alanna 
possessed an unending degree of loyalty to her home community, 
Bridgeport. Her loyalty was reflected through her continual return to 
Bridgeport City Hall, including as the City's Assistant Chief 
Administrative Officer between 2011 and 2014. In this capacity, Alanna 
coordinated daily business operations for an organization of more than 
45 departments, supporting efficient services for the largest city in 
the state.
  Alanna joined the U.S. Department of Housing in 2014. As the 
Community Planning and Development Director in the Hartford Field 
Office, she has overseen a period of growth for a team that more than 
doubled under her watch--directly expanding the field office's ability 
to advance U.S. HUD initiatives. Under her leadership, the Community 
Planning and Development office administered roughly $118 million in 
annual--and $91 million in pandemic specific--funding to scores of 
municipalities, nonprofits and the state government. In doing so, 
Alanna has worked to support the viability of urban Connecticut life, 
revitalization of neighborhoods, enable opportunities for affordable 
housing development and implement homelessness mitigation strategies.
  In her time with U.S. HUD, Alanna has been responsible for a wide 
array of priorities. She has overseen the Community Development Block 
Grant--Disaster Recovery Program, Rebuild by Design Program, National 
Disaster Resilience grants, and two Youth Homeless Demonstration 
Program grants in Connecticut. One of Alanna's proudest accomplishments 
has been her leadership on a team of 18 staff to audit and streamline 
the Department's Consolidated Annual Action Plan and field training 
processes. This administrative overhaul enabled the department's 
ability, particularly during the pandemic, to efficiently receive, 
review, and distribute funding to grant requests.
  Madam Speaker, my office learned firsthand about Alanna's stellar 
work ethic in 2015 when a little understood crisis began affecting 
residential foundations across the state. Homeowners found themselves 
grappling with the untimely and unpreventable crumbling of their 
concrete foundations. With no assistance from insurance providers, 
every homeowner impacted by a crumbling foundations faced the difficult 
predicament of securing the financial means to make the costly repairs. 
As my office worked with federal partners to identify resources for 
homeowners, Alanna's role as the Community Planning and Development 
Director was pivotal in those efforts. HUD was the first agency to 
identify a means of assistance for homeowners using an already existing 
federal program, the Community Development Block Grant. With HUD's 
guidance, federal and state stakeholders began to formulate avenues of 
assistance that continue to benefit impacted constituents.
  Madam Speaker, I can personally attest to the tremendous support 
Alanna has been to my office, and by translation, constituents of the 
Second District of Connecticut, for which this representational body 
ought to be eternally grateful. There will certainly be large shoes to 
fill in her place as dedication as she transitions into retirement with 
her husband, William, to spend more time with their beloved four 
children and four grandchildren. To that end, I ask that my colleagues 
in the House join me in recognizing and thanking Alanna Kabel for her 
decades of service.

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