#HARTFORD, CT – Governor Dannel P. Malloy and the members of Connecticut’s Congressional delegation are applauding the release of $45.8 million in federal grants that will be used towards helping the State of Connecticut reach its goal of ending homelessness. The grants were received through the U.S. Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Continuum of Care initiative, which provides critically needed support to local programs on the frontlines that serve individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
“We’ve set high goals to eliminate homelessness, and we’ve been seeing real results,” Governor Malloy said. “Ensuring and delivering the availability of housing for everyone is critical to building stronger, safer communities where families thrive and businesses grow. Over the last several years, our state has built solid partnerships with local, state, and federal organizations to strengthen our housing needs in order to ensure that when someone becomes homeless, it is brief and nonrecurring. I want to thank everyone who has been involved in these efforts – their work is truly having a positive impact on peoples’ lives.”
“While Connecticut has made significant progress towards reducing homelessness, there are still families and children who do not know where they will sleep tonight. That is unacceptable,” the members of the delegation said in a joint statement. “This funding will allow us to continue to work collaboratively on federal, state and local levels to ensure access to safe, stable and affordable housing. We are proud that Connecticut is on the forefront of the fight to end homelessness, and we will continue to support critical federal grant programs that change lives and make our state a stronger and better place.”
“Connecticut continues to make historic progress in the areas of preventing and ending homelessness,” Department of Housing (DOH) Commissioner Evonne Klein said. “I am pleased that once again, the state is receiving several grants to advance this work. We have developed a proven system to quickly identify homeless families and individuals and rapidly house them. I am proud that our state has been recognized by the federal government, increasing our allocation of Continuum of Care grants by well over $2 million this year. It is because of Governor Malloy’s leadership, Connecticut is a nationally recognized leader in preventing and ending homelessness.”
“Our agency is grateful to be awarded this continued and new funding from HUD,” Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services Commissioner Miriam Delphin-Rittmon said. “This funding provides permanent supportive housing opportunities for Connecticut’s most vulnerable populations, those persons experiencing homelessness who are also diagnosed with a behavioral health disorder. Connecticut’s state and local partners will use this funding to continue our collective work towards ending homelessness through the state.”
Included in the awards are brand new allocations totaling almost $2.7 million dollars that will allow Connecticut to build upon its existing infrastructure dedicated to ending homelessness. This is the fourth year in a row that Connecticut has received new allocations under this funding round.
The awards from prior years allowed the state to add approximately 400 new units of permanent supportive housing dedicated towards ending chronic homelessness. Additionally, Connecticut expects to add approximately 100 new units of permanent supportive housing with the assistance of this year’s grants. These new allocations will allow the state to expand its existing resources, bringing Connecticut one step closer to effectively ending homelessness altogether.
Since 2011, DOH and the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, have funded more than 22,000 units of housing, the vast majority of which are affordable to persons of low and moderate income. In total, this represents a state investment of more than $1 billion, which is leveraged by more than $2.5 billion from the private sector and other sources.
Connecticut continues to experience a rapid decline in homelessness as a result of the investments made under the Malloy administration, in tandem with efforts to coordinate and target resources at the community level. As a result, Connecticut’s work has earned national recognition.
In August 2015, the federal government certified Connecticut as the first state in the nation to have effectively ended chronic homelessness among veterans; in February 2016, Connecticut became one of only two states to have ended all veteran homelessness; and in January 2017, the Governor announced that Connecticut had matched all chronically homeless persons to housing.
This press release is made possible by:
