Homelessness

Who is homeless in Connecticut? There is no way to really know. Some people are living doubled up with friends or relatives in overcrowded conditions. Some people are living on the streets, under bridges, in cars or in abandoned buildings. The Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness reports these statistics for the period of October 2004 thru September 2005 from the 44 emergency shelters that receive state funding:

• Shelters are seeing an alarming increase in the number of times people are turned away because there is no room. In 2005, 34,428 were turned away from shelters because there was no room. This represents a 346% increase in the number of people turned away since 9,953 in 1999, due to lack of space.

• Approximately 2,000 people are homeless in Connecticut on any given night.

• 14,848 people used the shelters last year. They are 10,604 adults and 1,602 families with 2,642 children.

• Shelters are seeing a substantial number of two parent families coming for help. Last year, 10% of the 1,602 families served by the emergency shelters were two parent families.

* These numbers apply only to the emergency shelters that receive state funding. They do not include the women and children living in domestic violence shelters or in other shelter programs that are not funded by the state.

For more information:

Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness
77 Buckingham Street, Hartford, CT 06109
voice: 860/721-7876
fax: 860/257-1148
coalition@snet.net
www.cceh.org