A letter from Lisa
Tepper Bates
Dear friends,
Many, many thanks to all of you for your support of and participation in Connecticut's annual Point in Time Count of homelessness.
The 2015 CT-PIT, which included the every-other-year unsheltered count, reflected a drop of 10% in homelessness across our state since 2013, and significant gains in a number of specific areas, including veterans, families, and chronic homelessness. At the same time, our monthly data shows that Connecticut is on track to meet our goals under the Zero: 2016 campaign to end Veteran homelessness by December of this year, and to end chronic homelessness in Connecticut by 2016! (Read more about the PIT and Connecticut's Zero: 2016 campaign, below.)
This is big news, and good news! This progress reflects the great, hard work of providers on the front lines of homelessness across our state, who are refining our teamwork, bringing together the resources we have as effectively as we can, and providing real help to clients in urgent need. There is much more to be done, and we don't always have the resources we want or need. But I hope we can all take a breath and appreciate that step by step, one person at a time, we are making real and substantial progress.
Best regards,
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In January, 40 Connecticut providers and 9 state and federal partners joined Governor Malloy in signing on to Zero: 2016, an initiative to end Veteran homelessness by the end of 2015 and chronic homelessness (those who have been homeless for a long time and live with a disability) by the end of 2016. Four months into this important effort, only 18 of the 71 Zero: 2016 communities are on track to meet both of these important goals and Connecticut is the only state in this small group. Your work is the reason for this success! 100-day initiatives going on across the state to accelerate housing placements and build a coordinated exit system are feeding that momentum. New Haven's incredible progress over the last 12 months in housing 180 highly vulnerable people experiencing chronic homelessness is a testament to the great work happening in the state. Thanks to these powerful local efforts, we are exceeding our statewide Zero: 2016 monthly housing placement targets: in the last four months alone we have housed 371 Veterans and 229 individuals experiencing chronic homelessness.  This is good news, and good progress. But we know there is much more work ahead to reach our goals. To keep everyone apprised of the progress being made and resources available, we will be including Zero: 2016 CT updates in our newsletters. Click here to sign up for the Partnership newsletter. Click here to sign up for CCEH's newsletter. We will make additional information available about Zero: 2016, local efforts, and related resources at the CCEH website. Many thanks to all of you for your support in this effort!
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2015 ATI: A Great Day of Learning and Sharing; Presentations Available Online
The 2015 CCEH Annual Training Institute (ATI) on May 14 gathered together 400 homeless service providers, educators, state and federal colleagues, and other partners working to prevent and end homelessness. Participants gathered to engage in cutting-edge workshops and panel discussions led by prominent national, regional, and local leaders. It was a day of informative workshops on cutting-edge techniques and strategies. And a day of great inspiration and learning from colleagues and from Iain DeJong, our keynote speaker, who challenged us to think differently in our efforts to end homelessness. You can download PDFs of the presentations on our website (check back for those that aren't there yet). Check out our Facebook photo gallery from the day as well.
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CCEH Presents Leadership Awards
The Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness honored leaders for their great work advancing efforts to end homelessness at the Annual Training Institute and meeting on May 14.
- Sister Patricia McKeon, former Executive Director of Mercy Housing and Shelter Corporation in Hartford, received the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness Social Justice Award.
- David Pascua, who is retiring from the Norwich-based Southeastern Mental Health Authority, received the individual Carol E. Walter Think, Be, Lead Change Individual Award.
- The Greater New Haven 100-Day team received the Carol E. Walter Think, Be, Lead Change Agency Award for their tremendous work
We thank them all for their work, their innovation, and for all they have done for people in urgent need. Read more on our website.   
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CCEH Hires Deputy Director
Mary Ann (Mimi) Haley joined the CCEH staff on May 18 as the agency's first deputy director. Haley, originally from Indiana, has made Connecticut her home for over 25 years. As a senior non-profit administrator in youth-serving organizations for more than 20 years, she has created and implemented a variety of programs; conducted training for direct care workers, supervisors and community members; crafted quality improvement systems, and led community outreach campaigns. As Director of Quality Assurance and Training for Youth Continuum, Mimi helped design and implement a juvenile justice reentry program in New Haven and partnered with program directors to assure best practices in working with homeless, runaway, and foster youth.
Read more on our website.
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2015 PIT: Homelessness down across Connecticut
The annual count of Connecticut's homeless on February 18, 2015 shows major gains made in the efforts to end family, chronic and veteran homelessness, according to Point-in-Time Count reports released Tuesday, May 19.
The count showed that overall, homelessness in Connecticut is down 10 percent compared to 2013 statistics. Specifically, the number of people living in shelters is down 4 percent from 2014, and the number of people living on the streets is down 32 percent from 2013, the last time a count of the unsheltered homeless was completed.
The count registered the lowest total since statewide counts started in Connecticut in 2007, and identified 4,038 homeless individuals (down from 4,506 counted in 2013). Read more Download the PIT
(Regional reports coming this month, stay tuned to our website.)
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Updates from the be homeful initiative
Make your gift to the be homeful fund by June 21st and have it matched
You may already know well that family homelessness rises during the summers when  schools let out. Please make your gift to the be homeful fund this Spring to help a family stay in the comfort of home. Gifts can be made at behomeful.org/donate or by visiting any People's United Bank branch before Father's Day. Our goal is to raise $25,000 through gifts big and small. Donations will trigger a match from UIL Holdings Corporation Foundation, which has generously contributed $25,000 to the be homeful fund.
Thank you for making Paddington Storytimes a great success! We have been overwhelmed by the response to our request for libraries to host Paddington Storytimes for the be homeful fund. Thanks to all the volunteers who reached out to their local libraries and to the incredibly fun and creative children's librarians in Bridgeport, East Haven, Hamden, Mansfield, New Haven, Stonington, and Willimantic for hosting.
Looking for things to do with kids this summer? Don't miss Derby Public Library's Teddy Bear Picnic for the be homeful project this Saturday at 11:30, Fairfield Public Library's Paddington's Pathway exhibit which will be on display until their June 25th Paddington Storytime, or East Haven Hagaman Memorial Library's repeat performance on July 9th.
Don't forget to turn in your marmalade jars! Did you know that Paddington's favorite food is marmalade? CCEH is asking children across Connecticut to hold "marmalade drives" to raise funds for the be homeful project. To look up a location with a self-service coin counter near you, please visit peoples.com. All donations made between now and Father's Day (June 21st) will trigger a match from UIL Holdings Corporation Foundation.
If you or a child in your life is interested in holding a marmalade drive, please visit behomeful.org/marmdrive for a toolkit and to sign up to let us know about your plans.
be homeful on social media Please don't forget to follow be homeful on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates on new developments big and small with be homeful.
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New CCEH Data Newsletter
With the number of stakeholders in HMIS data increasing by the day, it is becoming increasingly difficult to make sure all of the data related information we are publishing is reaching everyone it should.
To help better streamline the process, CCEH is introducing a regular data newsletter. Click
here to sign up!
The newsletter will be a collection of everything data-related that is coming out of CCEH - all in one convenient location. You no longer have to worry about missing a meeting, accidentally throwing out that dashboard, or relying on a communication chain to get you the information you are looking for.
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Study to Understand Cost of Family Homelessness Underway
The Connecticut Estimating Costs of Homelessness Initiative (CECHI) is a partnership among the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness (CCEH), The Partnership for Strong Communities (PSC), and The University of Connecticut (Center for Applied Research in Human Development and the Department of Human Development & Family Studies).
UConn is partnering with a national organization (The Urban Institute, Washington, D.C.) to better understand the needs of and supports for homeless children and families, as part of a federally funded national demonstration on housing and child welfare. In May, we conducted an online survey to collect information about Connecticut shelters' capacity, services, and costs.
Data collected will be helpful in developing a better understanding of the costs of intervention, e.g., providing temporary shelter and planning for permanent, sustainable, stable housing for families who experience homelessness in CT.
Developing a comprehensive understanding of the costs of family homelessness will help us to advocate effectively for the resources providers need to prevent and end family homelessness in Connecticut!
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