Shoreline Basic Needs Task Force and ALICE

MIDDLETOWN >> It’s no surprise Middlesex County has some great things going on by some equally great people. At Middlesex United Way, we are so pleased to see local advocacy and assistance groups utilizing our tools to help assist our neighbors in need.

The Shoreline Basic Needs Task Force, founded in 2012, is a group made up of like-minded volunteers representing all backgrounds, such as local nonprofits, businesses, faith-based organizations, concerned citizens and community leaders.

Its goal is to offer support to individuals who are at risk regarding food, income and housing in 10 communities: Essex, Chester, Deep River, Killingworth, Lyme, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Westbrook, Clinton and Madison. Members work to increase self-sufficiency among these individuals and families along the shoreline.

The group is made up of three committees: food security, household income and housing.

The Shoreline Basic Needs Task Force Housing Committee campaign has included 10 First Thursday Dinner and Learn Town Conversation events. These are designed to educate, answer questions, and offer ideas and programs to assist individuals surrounding ALICE and affordable housing.

Aside from hosting these events, which have had over 250 community members in attendance, the Shoreline Basic Needs Task Force Housing Committee also works directly with selectmen, members of planning and zoning boards, landlords and builders to raise awareness. The Shoreline Basic Needs Task Force has been featured on multiple radio shows, The Peter Mezzetti TV show, and has had numerous articles highlighting the tremendous progress members have made over the past couple of years.

This past year, the Shoreline Basic Needs Task Force chose the ALICE Report as its 2016 Awareness Campaign. As many of you know, ALICE, a United Way acronym for Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed, represents individuals and households who are working but have difficulty affording the necessities of housing, food, child care, health care and transportation.

In 2014, Connecticut United Ways and Rutgers University developed the first ALICE report after completing studies on this hidden population. ALICE households in Connecticut make up about 27 percent of all households in the state, in addition to the 11 percent of Connecticut households that are in poverty.

In Middlesex County, 22 percent of households are ALICE, and 8 percent are in poverty.

While these households do not fall under the official federal poverty level, they make too little to afford necessities, including decent housing. Many times, the ALICE population is referred to as the “working poor.” In most family budgets, housing is the largest and least flexible expense.

In Middlesex County, 22 percent of homeowners and 40 percent of renters are under extreme housing burdens, meaning they pay more than 35 percent of their income on housing. A single adult will pay an average of $749 a month for housing, and a family of four will pay an average of $1,170 a month.

Affordable housing is defined as housing, either ownership or rental, for which a household will pay under 30 percent of its gross annual income.

The Shoreline Basic Needs Task Force’s Affordable Housing Committee has been busy educating and advocating for both the preservation and creation of this type of housing, as there is a great need and demand for affordable housing in all of the 10 towns that the organization covers.

Most importantly, the Shoreline Basic Needs Task Force Housing Committee doesn’t leave home without ALICE. You can see ALICE for yourself at local events, including parades, meetings, presentations, various events, and yes — she is in the form of a faceless metal silhouette cutout.

ALICE can be anyone: your neighbor, your friend or coworker, and she is no longer the hidden population she once was.

To learn how to get involved with the Shoreline Basic Needs Task Force, visit its Facebook page.

For information or to find data about ALICE in local communities, visit alice.ctunitedway.org.