Connecticut Discovering the New Poor and Homeless

Homeless in Connecticut - CTnow

The state's homeless population has risen, but it hasn't jumped. That's good news, but before we pop the bubbly, consider this:

For the past few years, the state's homeless shelters have been full to the bursting. Shelter workers perform heroically to find beds for people who want and need them, but sometimes? They have to say no. That's been happening more lately during a recession that's been delivering people — sometimes alone, and sometimes with families —- to shelter doorsteps.

So in studying the Point-in-Time homeless survey released last week, remember that the census only counted people in shelters — which have a finite amount of spaces to count.

"We shouldn't be congratulating ourselves just yet," said Carol Walter, executive director of the CT Coalition to End Homelessness. "The numbers remain very high, and we've not made a dent in chronic homelessness. We've held off dramatic increases by creating supportive housing, but clearly we have work to do."

Few populations defy study as much as the homeless. By virtue of their lack of a permanent address, these are not people who stay put, but every year homeless advocates try to survey at least the people who have found beds in shelters.

Nearly half said they'd never been homeless before.

"That doesn't blow me away, but it does point to the idea that there's a new push of poor people who are falling off the edge into homelessness," said Walter. "What we have is a helium balloon bouncing off the ceiling. The trends tell us the shelters are unreasonably full and continue to be unreasonably full. In a shelter, it's not possible for there to be a huge increase."

This is true, not only in Conneticut but across America as the full ramifications of the Foreclosure crisis and the economic downturn are beginning create a new generation of the poor. Unfortunately many of us are so stuck in old ways of thinking of the poor and homeless as to be ineffective.

Brother's Keeper Ministries has training available on our Education and Preparation page.