HARTFORD, Conn. – A federal report released this week says homelessness increased more than 17 percent in Connecticut this year, but housing advocates say the raw numbers don't tell the whole story.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development report counted almost 4,000 people as being homeless in the state in the 2018 "Point-In-Time" count. But that figure includes almost 600 people evacuated from Puerto Rico to Connecticut by the Federal Emergency Management Agency following Hurricane Maria.

According to Richard Cho, CEO of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, the number of state residents who are homeless remained about the same as last year.

"While that's not necessarily cause for celebration, the numbers that HUD reported did not break down the families who are being sheltered through this special circumstance from those that would be experiencing homelessness otherwise," says Cho.

He says overall, there has been a 25 percent decrease in homelessness in Connecticut since 2007.

Cho points out that 280 homeless Connecticut families have been housed this month alone, due in part to improvements in the response to homelessness that have evolved in the last several years.

"We've developed a system that is able to identify people who are experiencing homelessness," says Cho. “We put them on a list, and we ensure that there's an accountable plan to help those individuals and families reconnect to housing."

He adds that Connecticut was the first state in the nation to effectively end chronic homelessness among veterans.

But Cho believes that homelessness persists mostly because wages are not keeping up with the rising cost of housing.

"While we can work better to make sure that we can help individual families leave homelessness once they enter it, the challenge is how do we stop that inflow into homelessness in the first place? And to me, we can only do that once we solve this affordable housing crisis," says Cho.

More information about Connecticut's efforts to end homelessness is available online at 'CTcandata.org.'


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LAS VEGAS - Las Vegas is trying to make it easier for people experiencing homelessness to get to their appointments with social service agencies by instituting a new shuttle service, called The Arrow.

The buses run on a continuous loop from the Homeless Resource Center to the Social Security Administration, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the State Welfare Department, and Employment Services. Margaret Kurtz, spokesperson for the city, said it's an extension of the free bus service for tourists and workers on the Strip.

"This has been expanded to specifically target the folks at the Homeless Courtyard," she said, "so that they can have the resources they need to no longer be homeless."

Traditionally, cities have given people facing homelessness a bus pass, hoping they can navigate the system. The Arrow runs on a specific schedule, and also takes people back and forth for evening meals at the Las Vegas Rescue Mission.

Jocelyn Bluitt-Fisher, community resources manager for the city, said the new service has been a big hit in its first few weeks of operation.

"The response has been really, really great," she said, "not only for the clients who are using the service, but also for our community partners who are able to their clients to services and appointments as well."

Data from the City of Las Vegas show the Courtyard Homeless Service Center served 6,500 clients from last July through this June. They also gave 900 people Greyhound tickets home and linked 220 people to housing. In addition, the Courtyard is building a Wellness Center that will offer medical services.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Millions of Americans soon could find eviction notices on their front doors, but New Mexico renters will not be among them - as long as they file the appropriate paperwork to receive financial assistance.

New Mexico has local and state eviction moratoriums in place, even as the federal eviction moratorium is set to expire tomorrow.

Brie Sillery - communications strategist with the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness - said it's a good thing there's no immediate change in the state, because most homeless shelters are at capacity.

"We are operating with a homeless response system already inundated," said Sillery, "and, because of the financial implications of the pandemic, we have seen an increase in people that are living on the street."

The pandemic caused many to lose their jobs and fall behind on rent and utility payments. Sillery estimates 60,000 to 80,000 New Mexico households would be facing eviction without the state and local moratoriums.

Renters or landlords facing financial difficulties can find help through "renthelpnm.org" - but must apply by August 30.

Sillery said New Mexico has about $150 million available in federal aid for rent and utility assistance to households experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19.

"What we want to do now is ensure that, as New Mexicans are seeing the federal moratorium come to an end, that both tenants and landlords know that they are still protected," said Sillery.


The Biden administration said Wednesday it lacks the authority to require the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to extend the moratorium past this weekend, and called on Congress to pass legislation to do so.

DENVER -- When people experiencing chronic homelessness in Denver received free housing along with mental and behavioral health services, they were able to stay housed and saw improved health outcomes, according to a new Urban Institute report.

Cathy Alderman, chief communications and public policy officer at the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, said the upfront investment in housing resulted in significant savings by reducing encounters with safety-net services.

"Housing with appropriate services is going to not only improve the lives of those people being housed, and the communities in which they are housed, but it's also going to be a benefit to the taxpayers," Alderman asserted.

More than half of the program's cost was offset by reductions in public services, such as jail, detox and other emergency care.

Alderman pointed out the report contradicts claims people choose to become and remain homeless. When participants were able to access housing through the Supportive Housing Social Impact Bond initiative, launched in 2016, they remained stably housed.

Participants also saw overall health benefits, in part because they were able to access preventive care.

Alderman contended helping people address behavioral and mental-health issues is an important step toward re-entering the community in a meaningful way.

"Oftentimes people who are suffering from a behavioral or a mental-health issue, they may not realize that that is the impediment to staying stably housed, or entering the workforce, or obtaining an educational outcome," Alderman explained.

With housing costs exploding in Colorado, Alderman emphasized the time for targeted investments in homelessness prevention and resolution have never been more critical.

She sees the report as a call to action as the state continues to become less affordable for even those with moderate incomes.

"This is a model that can be used at the local level," Alderman urged. "In cities, the state could adopt it, the federal government could adopt it, and we could probably make significant changes in the number of people experiencing homelessness today."