As homelessness rises in Connecticut, older adults can be particularly susceptible. What is the state legislature doing about it?
WSHU’s Ebong Udoma spoke with CT Mirror’s Ginny Monk to discuss her article, “After homelessness, New Haven woman is finding her community,” as part of the collaborative podcast Long Story Short. You can read her story here.
WSHU: You tell the story of Kathleen McKenzie, who goes by Gypsy. She’s a woman in her 70s who was experiencing homelessness in New Haven for a while. What makes her experience interesting?
GM: So part of it is the trends we’re seeing in homelessness right now. There are a lot of older people, older adults, experiencing homelessness, many of them for the first time, and she was living outside for a good amount of that time, which is another population we’ve seen a lot of growth in over the past couple of years.
WSHU: How was she able to get back on her feet? What was that process like?
GM: So it was long. She talks a lot about the bureaucracy of it, having to apply for this program, getting rejected from it, having to apply for another one and getting rejected from it, until she finally came across a religious organization that was able to help her pay the rent. So they’re paying about $600 of her $900 a month rent in a New Haven apartment.
WSHU: And you end the story by saying she still keeps her cot and sleeping bag, just in case. So, she lives with the fear of being homeless again.
GM: She does. Homelessness is a very traumatic experience for a lot of people, and I think she’s able to kind of talk about that really well and explain how she’s feeling. And you know that some of it might be the trauma, but she’s also aware that there’s a severe lack of housing, and worried about her rent going up.
WSHU: You say her experience is one that an increasing number of older Connecticut residents are experiencing. Why is that happening?
GM: Often it’s because of rising rents. So as rents rise, people, particularly people on fixed incomes, struggle to afford those increases. So that often means senior citizens and service providers are reporting that they’re seeing a lot more of those folks coming into the shelter.
WSHU: Another aspect is the lack of housing, especially affordable housing. Why does Connecticut have so few units available?
GM: So it’s interesting that you phrase it that way, because a recent report showed that Connecticut actually has the most constrained housing market in the country, with only 7% vacancy, and that’s across apartments and across homes to purchase. So Connecticut has seen sort of a slowing in construction of residential buildings, particularly apartment complexes. A lot of experts have tied this to restrictive local zoning ordinances that make it really hard to build multi-family units.
WSHU: Part of the issue is the money, the money that the state is willing to allocate, and the loss of the COVID-19 federal grants. What are service providers saying that they would need to make a serious change here?
GM: They’re asking this session for 33.5 million in the upcoming budget. They’ve thrown out a few numbers over the years, always asking for more money and never even coming close to receiving the amount they’ve asked for, and sort of what we’re hearing now is that they’re having to turn people away from shelter, that it’s full, that people are having to sleep outside, even in these very cold conditions.
WSHU: And so homelessness has become, it seems, a larger conversation in the General Assembly over the last few years. Have they been able to pass anything of substance over the last few years?
GM: So they’ve considered a lot of bills to help address homelessness, and I think we’re going to see a lot more discussion on that this year. But really the big thing for service providers has been the money, which has not come through.
WSHU: So what are some of the things that they are considering this year other than the money?
GM: So they’re looking at a bill that would establish an Interagency Council on Homelessness. This is something Governor Lamont has already created to help state agencies work together more efficiently to address homelessness, but this would make it legislatively created, meaning it would outlast the Lamont administration. They’re also looking at a bill to, they call it, decriminalize homelessness. So, following a Supreme Court decision over the summer, people experiencing homelessness can be ticketed or even arrested for doing things like sleeping in public spaces. The legislature is trying to ensure that that doesn’t happen. They’re also looking at a bill to allow the creation of tiny homes and more shelter on religious property, such as churches, temples, and mosques. So, kind of a lot going on.