Thomas Breen photo
Youth Continuum CEO Paul Kosowsky and Director of Community Services Kathy Grega. Below: Youth Continuum’s HQ on Grand.
Her face peeking out from a gray hoodie, a 22-year-old woman answered each question about her past homelessness and present temporary housing with a nod, a soft-spoken “No,” or a gentle request for more information.
Yes, she was homeless for two years after her mom fell sick and her family was evicted from their Munson Street apartment.
No, she’s never traded sex for a place to stay.
Does she drink alcohol? “I only drink if I don’t got weed.”
Her survey participation earned her a Walmart gift card — and should help city homelessness social service providers better understand how many young people in New Haven need their help.
That young woman (who asked to remain anonymous in this story) took that survey Monday afternoon at Youth Continuum‘s headquarters at 924 Grand Ave.
The survey was part of the local homeless youth support nonprofit’s participation in this year’s Youth Outreach and Count. The annual count seeks to identify how many homeless and housing insecure young people between the ages of 13 and 24 currently live in New Haven and across the state.
The week-long youth count started on Jan. 22 and ended Tuesday. It came directly on the heels of Jan. 21’s federally mandated once-a-year, one-night-only Point-In-Time (PIT) Count of all homeless people, adults and children, living on the streets or in city shelters.
In addition to taking place over a week instead of all on a single night, the youth count differs from the annual PIT by focusing on both truly homeless youth as well as youth who are couchsurfing or otherwise living on their own, in unstable housing, without a parent or guardian.
Staff and volunteers from Youth Continuum, the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness (CCEH), and other local social services agencies spread out across the city over the course of the week to hotspots where housing insecure young people congregate. Those include public libraries, Dunkin Donuts, and the offices of relevant nonprofits like Youth Continuum.
“We started the homeless outreach and youth count [several years ago] as an initiative to gather data on vulnerable populations and conduct outreach and engage them,” said CCEH Development Advisor Madeline Ravich (pictured).
That data is ultimately used to secure state and federal grants for nonprofits like Youth Continuum that provide housing, employment, and healthcare assistance to the most vulnerable young people in the city.
This year’s PIT and Youth Count data won’t be published and publicly available until later this spring.
Last year, the PIT Count found 503 people in New Haven experiencing homelessness. Of that total, 98 were children, 50 were adults in families, and 355 were single adults.
The 2019 Youth Outreach and Count report estimated that, across the state, 9,303 youth under the age of 25 reported experiencing homelessness or being unstably housed the night of Jan. 22, 2019. The report does not include any estimates as to what portion of that number are in New Haven.
Mayor Elicker’s meet-up with Youth Continuum staff.
On Monday morning, Mayor Justin Elicker visited Youth Continuum’s headquarters to talk with CEO Paul Kosowsky and a half-dozen other staff about the manifold services they provide to local homeless youth, the challenges of finding safe and affordable housing for their target population, and the critical role that the state’s Coordinated Access Networks (CANs) and a new federal Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program grant play in the services they provide.
Kosowsky said the local nonprofit provides seven permanent supportive housing units and 32 rapid re-housing units throughout the city, as well as 20 beds for youth exiting child welfare. The organization is partnering with the Y2Y youth housing nonprofit to build out up to 20 new beds at its 924 Grand Ave. headquarters later this year.
Kosowsky and Director of Community Services Kathy Grega said that one of Youth Continuum’s primary objectives is to provide housing insecure youth with emergency housing and support so that they do not have to go to an adult shelter, which many are already averse to do.
“The earlier a person gets into the shelter system,” Grega said, “the harder it is to get out.”
“Homeless For Two Years”
Youth Continuum staffer Douglas Mills, before he administered Monday afternoon’s survey.
After the mayor’s hour-long check-in with the staff, a young woman walked through Youth Continuum’s doors for her previously scheduled appointment to take a survey with Youth Continuum staffer Douglas Mills.
Sitting just a few feet apart in Mills’s closet-sized office towards the back of the Grand Avenue headquarters, Mills began the survey by asking the young woman how she was doing.
“Chilling,” she replied softly, her head leaning against the office’s wall.
Mills explained the reason for the youth count, and then jumped into the survey, scrolling through several pages of the online questionnaire and helping her understand each question when she wasn’t sure what he was asking about.
Are you currently pregnant? “No.”
How would you describe your gender identity? “Straight female.”
Do you have any chronic disabilities? “I’ve got learning disabilities.”
She said she still smokes weed regularly, but rarely drinks.
Where is home? “Winchester.” Meaning one of the transitional housing apartments on Winchester Avenue provided by Youth Continuum.
Have you ever slept outside somewhere, or in a vehicle, or in a park or an emergency room, in the past 60 days?
She paused to think. “That was way before two months ago,” she said.
Have you ever slept in a homeless shelter? Have you ever couchsurfed at a friend’s place? Have you ever slept in an emergency room or some other random spot when you needed shelter?
“Yeah, when I was homeless.”
She said she and her mom and dad used to live in an apartment on Munson Street.
“My mom couldn’t pay rent because she was sick.” The family was subsequently evicted.
The then-teenage girl went to live with her aunt, but soon left after too many fights and after her aunt proved to be physically abusive.
How many times have you slept in a shelter over the past three years? Mills asked. More than four times?
Yes, the young woman replied. “I think I was homeless for two years.”
Do you think you need drug or alcohol treatment? Would that be beneficial?
“For weed, yes,” she said.
What about some help on how to put together a personal budget? That would help too.
“All right, that’s it!” Mill said after the 20-minute interview. He thanked her for coming in, handed her the Walmart gift card, and urged her to come out to the downtown public library on Feb. 1 for a “DreamKit” workshop designed to help young people put together employment résumés.
He also reminded her of an appointment she has with a Youth Continuum case worker next week.
“I’ll be here,” he said with a smile. “Make sure we see your face.”