Nonprofits Welcome Fed $ For Supportive Housing

Twenty-six Greater New Haveners at risk of sleeping on the street will have a new permanent ​“supportive” place to stay — thanks to part of a recent federal funding award targeted to combat homelessness.

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro celebrated that flow of federal cash during a Monday morning press conference held at New Reach’s headquarters at 269 Peck St. 

The reason for the presser was the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) announcement in late January of its annual Continuum of Care Program awards, which subsidize rental assistance and supportive housing and other housing-first interventions to keep people from becoming homeless. 

DeLauro, the ranking Democratic member of the House Appropriations Committee, welcomed that infusion of government money alongside Mayor Justin Elicker and local and state homelessness services nonprofit leaders like Kellyann Day of New Reach, Jim Pettinelli of Liberty Services, Tim Maguire of Youth Continuum, Sarah Fox of Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, and Jennifer Heath of United Way of Greater New Haven.

Click here to read a list of Connecticut awards through the Continuum of Care funding program, including $284,027 for New Reach’s rapid rehousing, $615,587 for Liberty’s consolidated scattered site housing, $243,128 for Youth Continuum’s supportive housing project, and $3,408,697 for rental assistance in New Haven as administered by the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

This Continuum of Care funding is ​“the beating heart of the federal government’s” homelessness prevention and intervention efforts, DeLauro said. She credited New Haven’s various homelessness services nonprofits for working collaboratively rather than competitively, and she described government funding to stop homelessness as some of the most important work that the federal government can do.

Fox said that there are currently 5,000 homeless people across Connecticut, including 256 people outside and unsheltered in New Haven.

Day, whose Fair Haven-based nonprofit provides affordable and supportive housing for roughly 130 people across the state, said that this latest FY23 HUD award will allow New Reach to provide permanent supportive housing for 26 additional people in the Greater New Haven area. 

“Supportive housing” refers to subsidized rent and the provision of ​“in-home supportive services” for people with a need for a ​“higher level of care,” Day said. Such services can include everything from getting driven to doctor’s appointments and the grocery store to help searching for a job or mental health and addiction treatment. ​“It’s very people-centered,” Day centered, and varies depending on the needs of the individual.