Advocates call for more aid for homeless
As line forms at Hartford warming center, mayor among those urging greater state commitment
Warming centers — mostly in Hartford — are a refuge for homeless people from across the region when temperatures drop to dangerous levels, but funding for them has not been certain.
Advocates for the homeless, including Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, called on the state Friday to commit $5 million each year to Connecticut’s Cold Weather Emergency Response program to establish consistent, stable support for the state’s unhoused population.
Bronin and representatives from the South Park Inn, Hands on Hartford, Journey Home, and other shelters from the Greater Hartford Coordinated Access Network gathered at the Hartford Warming Center on 110 Washington St. to discuss the critical need for reliable funding.
Early in November, the Lamont administration released $8.5 million in funding to support people experiencing homelessness. Of that, $5 million went to seasonal shelters and homelessness services for use this winter.
Rebekah Lyas, assistant director of South Park Inn, the organization that stepped up this year to run Hartford’s warming center, wants to see that one-time $5 million contribution turn into an annual line-item commitment.
“Last year, warming centers saved at least 232 lives in Greater Hartford. The money that we’re asking for will help to ensure that no one freezes to death. For years, the funding for these programs has been cobbled together at the community level with a small allocation from the Department of Housing. This model is not sustainable for the future,” Lyas said.
The center opened for overnight use on Dec. 1. Lyas said it has reached capacity every night
since Dec. 9, and the demand is not expected to subside.
“On Dec. 13, all of the warming centers in the region were full,” Lyas said. “We typically don’t see warming centers being at capacity until sometime in January.”
Outside, hopeful patrons had already started lining up at the shelter doors to secure a cot in the 45-person facility.
Richard Gonzales said that he typically arrives at 1 p.m. for a spot — by the time the warming center finally starts letting in guests at 7 p.m., the line is too long, and the risk of being turned away is too high.
Gonzales said his financial situation was upended after losing the ability to work due to a hip injury and a bout with COVID-19. When he lost his apartment in Meriden four months ago, Gonzales said he went to Hartford in hopes of more services. He has yet to secure a shelter bed through 211, so Gonzales sleeps in the city’s warming center.
Lyas said that the warming center prioritizes Hartford residents, but up to 40% of the people who use Hartford’s warming centers and shelters come from outside towns, Bronin said. While he feels proud that Hartford can supply this service, Bronin said that “the need is growing larger than the capacity” and it is time for more municipalities to step up and provide shelter for their struggling residents.
“This needs to be an effort that every community plays a role in, that we all do our part to address,” Bronin said. “This need is not just a need of a city. It’s not just a need of urban centers. This is a need in communities of all kinds throughout our state. And if we want to handle it responsibly, compassionately, effectively, then we’ve all got to do our part.”
Bronin said annual state funding for warming centers can make a “big difference.”
“I want to say thank you to the state of Connecticut for putting funds forward this year, statewide, to make sure that we are more prepared to deal with the increase in individuals and families needing shelter this winter,” Bronin said. “I think it’s important that that becomes a sustained effort, because this challenge is not going away, and every winter, there are countless families throughout our state who need that shelter.”
Journey Home, a Hartford-based nonprofit, coordinates cold weather planning protocols and the effort to end homelessness in the region. Executive Director Matthew Morgan said that Connecticut’s shelter system needs more resources to address the need during these “unprecedented times.”
“This year, we’re seeing an unprecedented need of people who are seeking our help, and we need to respond in an unprecedented way,” Morgan said. “Every single municipality in the state has people who end up experiencing homelessness. So every municipality has the obligation to contribute towards our homeless response system ... our shelter system is clogged and part of that is because we don’t have enough rental assistance and housing units to get people out of homelessness. Every municipality has an obligation and we are calling on the state to annualize that $5 million of funding that they have provided this year for cold weather shelter programming again in the future.”