Homelessness in CT

This is the second part of a two part series leading up to the Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week that is taking place November 18-23. Last week was on hunger in Connecticut; this week will be featuring the issue of homelessness.

As the days get colder and darker, the issue of homelessness becomes an urgent matter.

According to the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness' article titled "Portrats of Homelessness in Connecticut," the state's emergency shelters served 11,700 people, 1,500 of them being children (Portraits, 1).

The factors that they list as contributing factors to homelessness include (Portraits, 1):

• Inadequate Income: "homeless families typically have extremely low incomes under 50% of the poverty level" (p. 1).
• High Costs of Housing: In 2010, CT had the 5th highest cost of living in the U.S. and about 80% of poor households in CT are weighed down by housing costs with 50% of their paycheck or more going towards rent.
• Interpersonal Violence: 40% of CT adults in families said that domestic violence contributed to their homelessness.
• Disability Health Conditions: this factor is on the rise as more and more adults are diagnosed with medical and psychological conditions
• Re-entry and Criminal Justice Involvement

In 2010, CT had 24 emergency shelters for homeless individuals, 10 for homeless families and 18 that serve a mixed population of both families and individuals (p. 3).

If you would like to read more about Homelessness in CT from this article, you can find it at: http://www.cfgnh.org/Portals/0/Uploads/Documents/Public/giveANDlearn-reports/HOMELESSNESS-portraits_full.pdf