CT News Junkie | By: Jamil Ragland
HARTFORD, CT – A broad coalition of legislators, housing advocates, and frontline workers called on Gov. Ned Lamont and the General Assembly on Friday to increase funding to tackle the growing number of Connecticut residents experiencing homelessness.
State Rep. Eleni Kavros DeGraw, D-Avon and Sarah Fox, CEO of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness (CCEH), introduced their legislative agenda for 2025 titled “Connecticut Can End Homelessness.” Kavros DeGraw said that the realities of homelessness exist in her district, even though people have to travel into the cities to receive services.
“This is not something that should only be on our cities,” she said. “This is all of us. This is our entire state. We should all care about each and every last of the nearly 5,000 people who are currently without a home. And we are very purposely using the word home, because think about what is conjured up in your own mind when you hear the word home. It is a human right to have at home, to feel safe.”
Fox shared her own experience with homelessness to underscore the need to help keep residents from going through the same struggles.
“When we talk about people experiencing homelessness, we’re just not talking about someone else. We’re talking about our people. We’re talking about me,” she said. “I’ve experienced homelessness. I’ve seen the impact that homelessness has on education. So together this year we’re leaning into preventing homelessness before it begins, ensuring a crisis response with strong providers who can get the job done and staff who are paid what they need so that they can have affordable housing and wages to thrive, and housing so that we can ensure every single person in our community can thrive.”