Currently there are 3,410 people affected by homelessness across the state of Connecticut. Over the past couple of years, from 2021 till this year, the homeless population has increased steadily after over a decade of decline. In addition, the issue of homelessness has been a racial justice issue for a long time because homelessness disproportionally effects people of color with 68 percent of the above-mentioned population being people of color and the majority of that percentage being from the black community.

Furthermore, if something does not change or if not, enough change is occurring in a timely manner then things will only become more dire for those affected by homelessness. To be more specific, the population will only grow, increase pressure on social service resources, and will see increase in fatalities during the winter and instances of heat stroke during the summer. In addition, last year Connecticut received an 18-million-dollar grant to address homelessness and the plan for that money is to be used to hire more workers and create more central hubs so people can get access to services, but this plan did include the creation of more services. This plan does not do much for the homeless community and can lead to increased rates of worker burnout.  

Moreover, linked within this petition is a presentation outlining why homelessness needs to be stood up too along with a letter that will be sent to senator Richard Blumenthal detailing what kind of policies that he and his colleagues need to introduce in order to comate the homelessness problem in Connecticut. In addition, this petition is imperative because policy within the United States has been used to discriminate against people of color, so let's advocate for policy that helps people of color and those who are disadvantaged. 

Letter to Legislator ​

Stand Up to Homelessness Presentation