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Ending Homelessness In Connecticut alone, over 33,000 people experience homelessness each year, including 13,000 children. The 2009 Point-in-Time Homelessness Count found that on the night of January 28, 2009, 4,154 individuals (in 3,320 households), experienced homelessness. This number includes 801 children. Homelessness is a solvable problem. The solutions already exist. What’s needed is the public and political will to make it happen. The Partnership for Strong Communities is dedicated to ending long-term homelessness in Connecticut through the creation of permanent supportive housing. What causes homelessness? Some people experience an episode of homelessness because of economic reasons: - Unemployment or low income from underemployment or working a low-wage job
- High housing costs that consume too much of the family or individual's income
- Unexpected financial hardship that triggers a downward spiral - loss of a job, injury or illness, loss of spouse, costly car breakdown
Some people experience serious life issues that can lead to long-term homelessness: - Mental illness
- Substance abuse
- Physical disability or illness, such as AIDS/HIV
How do we prevent and end homelessness? - Increase the supply of affordable housing, through new construction and rehabilitation of older housing.
- Increase the supply of permanent supportive housing, which combines an affordable apartment with case management and support and employment services.
- Increase the availability of rental subsidies.
- Preserve the safety net of social services, including SAGA, Safety Net, mental health services, health care, etc.
- Effectively coordinate discharge planning, to ensure that people released from state institutions and programs go into adequate housing instead of shelters or the streets. Populations at risk include:
- Ex-offenders released from prisons
- Youth aging out of foster care
- Patients leaving mental health programs or hospitalizations
- Assist in housing searches and follow up for individuals and families exiting shelters or other homeless situations. For example, the Beyond Shelter program helps people who are leaving shelters to find apartments and provides continual assistance with difficult situations that arise to prevent a recurrence of homelessness.
- Help people maximize their earnings through education, training, and job search assistance.
Reaching Home, the Campaign to End Long-Term Homelessness in Connecticut, is spearheading efforts to end long-term homelessness through the production of 10,000 units of supportive housing in ten years. There are currently over 4,400 units of supportive housing in over 80 communities across the state. You and others in Connecticut can contact your state and federal elected officials through our Action Alerts, sign up for Partnership emails to stay informed, and write letters to the editor of your local newspaper to help spread the word about ending homelessness. Learn more
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