Homelessness Milestone is Reached

On February 18, 2016, Governor Dannel Malloy hosted a press event at the State Armory to announce that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Veterans Administration (VA) and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) certified that Connecticut officially ended veteran homelessness in the state. Speakers included Governor Dannel Malloy, Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman, Department of Housing Commissioner Evonne Klein, Senator Richard Blumenthal, U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Deputy Director Richard Cho, Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System's Errera Community Center Director Dr. Laurie Harkness, Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Sean Connolly and HUD Hartford Field Office Director Suzanne Piacentini.

Committed to the Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness, Connecticut was the first state to officially end chronic veteran homelessness in August, 2015 and the second state to end homelessness overall, after Virginia. Connecticut is one of only four states participating in Zero:2016 (http://www.cceh.org/provider-resources/zero-2016/) and is on target to end chronic homelessness in Connecticut by the end of 2016.

(l to r) Department of Housing Commissioner Evonne Klein, Senator Richard Blumenthal, Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman, Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System's Errera Community Center Director Dr. Laurie Harkness, Governor Dannel Malloy, CT Department Veterans Affairs Commissioner Sean Connolly, U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Deputy Director Richard Cho and HUD Hartford Field Office Director Suzanne Piacentini

Journey Home Executive Director Matthew Morgan and HUD Hartford Field Office Director Suzanne Piacentini

The major milestone was achieved through the work of the statewide Veteran's Workgroup and from the participation of the Coordinated Access Networks (http://cceh.org/work/coordinated-access/), public housing agencies, Supportive Services for Veteran Families (https://goo.gl/w6dH9T), Veteran Affairs Grant and Per Diem program (http://www.va.gov/homeless/gpd.asp) providers, 2-1-1 Infoline (http://www.211ct.org/) shelters and all who support veterans in Connecticut. While this declaration does not mean that there will never be another veteran facing homelessness in the state, it does mean that Connecticut has created a sustainable system where veterans who are facing homelessness can be quickly identified and rapidly placed into housing within 90 days.

Visit HUD's website for homeless information in Connecticut.

Committed to the Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness, Connecticut is the first state to officially end chronic veteran homelessness.

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