Governor Malloy speaks on goals for the statewide Zero: 2016 effort

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and a host of federal officials spoke at the Zero: 2016 CT Summit on Wednesday October 28 to kick off Connecticut’s strategic plan to end all chronic homelessness by the end of 2016. Connecticut is one of only four states to participate in the national Zero: 2016 initiative organized by Community Solutions. Hosted by the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness and the Partnership for Strong Communities, the summit brought together officials from the state Departments of Housing and Mental Health & Addiction Services, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, and local partners.

At the summit, teams from Connecticut’s Coordinated Access Networks (CANs) developed realistic goals and detailed action plans for the remaining 12-month initiative to end chronic homelessness in Connecticut. The CANs, along with their partners, have helped house more than 300 chronically homeless individuals so far in 2015.

“For the first time, our communities have been able to develop lists, by name, of all the people experiencing homelessness,” said Lisa Tepper Bates, executive director of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness. “This tells us how many people we need to house in order to end chronic homelessness in Connecticut,” Bates explained, “and this Summit will kick off the big push to use new state- and HUD-funded Permanent Supportive Housing to get to the finish line.  We are very fortunate to have the commitment of the Governor and the legislature to support these efforts.”

The workshops were facilitated by the Rapid Results Institute, developers of the “100 Day Challenge” approach, who continue to provide support to Connecticut agencies in this process. Kristin Sulewski, senior catalyst, said, “The Rapid Results Institute’s work helps communities to improve how they allocate resources, allowing the most intense services to be provided to those that need the most help. We are proud to be part of the work in CT.”

WHAT: Zero: 2016 Summit

WHO: Governor Malloy, State of CT; Commissioner Evonne Klein, CT Department of Housing; Commissioner Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, CT Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services; Bob Pulster, U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness; Marcy Thompson, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

WHEN: 9:00 am – 4:30 pm, Wednesday October 28, 2015 (Gov. Malloy spoke at 9:30 am)

WHERE: Hartford Public Library, 500 Main St, Hartford CT