CCEH Newsletter
October 2019
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Dear Friends,
I recently had the pleasure and honor of joining Commissioner Mosquera-Bruno and staff at the CT Department of Housing for the Hartford Marathon Relay Team to help raise funds for homeless services as part of the United Way of Central and Northeastern CT’s Run United drive. In my view, the marathon relay is a perfect way to experience a marathon—you only have to run 6.1 miles and can still say that you did a marathon! I jest, but in seriousness, there is something special about being part of a team and about being able to play a small part in achieving a larger goal.
A marathon relay is a lot like the work of ending homelessness. As our coalition members, each of you plays a critical role in our work to end homelessness—conducting outreach, operating homeless shelters, helping households to resolve their homelessness, providing rapid re-housing or supportive housing, providing or raising funds, improving policies, managing or using data, helping educate the general public, and more—but no single one of our roles is enough to end homelessness. It takes all of us—working together as a coordinated system—to achieve that larger and longer goal. Like in a marathon relay, we focus on running our respective sections as best we can and also on cheering on our teammates as they run their sections.
Sincerely,
Richard Cho
CEO
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Fairfield County Continuum of Care Awarded $3M in YHDP Grant
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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded $75 million through its Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) to end youth homelessness in 23 local communities across the country. United Way of Coastal Fairfield County was awarded $3,013,674, which will help build a local system that can be used to support a wide range of housing programs for youth, including rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, transitional housing, and host homes. The award was celebrated by providers working to end homelessness in CT at October 7th’s press conference, alongside Senator Chris Murphy, Senator Richard Blumenthal, and Congressman Jim Himes. Congratulations to the Opening Doors Fairfield County Continuum of Care on receiving this award!
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Youth Outreach and Count -
January 22-28, 2020
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The 2020 Youth Outreach and Count 2020 is taking place from January 22 to 28. This volunteer-led effort to survey young people statewide about experiences with housing will be in its fifth year in 2020. It has matured to be both an important data collection exercise and equally important community awareness and partner- building event. Ending youth homelessness requires partners and collaborators in every corner of the state! Regions of the state are currently meeting and mapping out plans to conduct the count now.
To learn more about how to be involved, volunteer and see previous Youth Outreach and Count results visit:
www.cceh.org/youth-count
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Announcing be homeful for the holidays!
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We are thrilled to officially announce the launch of the 2019 be homeful for the holidays campaign! This will be our fourth year holding this very special campaign which has raised more than $200,000 for the be homeful funds over the past three years and made it possible to give holiday gifts to every child in a Connecticut shelter over the past three years.
Between now and Christmas, for every $25 you donate to the be homeful project, we will donate an adorable Paddington™ plush, book, or baby gift to a child in a local shelter. The best part is that thanks to underwriting from our funders, all donations go directly to help local families.
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SAMHSA announces grant opportunity
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SAMHSA has announced a significant grant opportunity to reduce homelessness resulting from substance abuse. The grant could provide up to $2 million over five years. Please share the application information below with any agencies that might be interested:
SAMHSA is accepting applications for
Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals (GBHI). The purpose of this program is to support the development and/or expansion of local implementation of a community infrastructure that integrates substance use disorder treatment, housing services, and other critical services for individuals (including youths) and families experiencing homelessness.
SAMHSA plans to issue 13 grants of up to $400,000 per year for up to 5 years.
Application Due Date: Monday, December 16, 2019
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CCEH Remembers Pastor Blossom of Guilford for his work ending homelessness
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Rev. John J. Blossom of Guilford CT died unexpectedly on Sunday, September 15. He was a member and major contributor in the Meriden/Middlesex County/Wallingford Coordinated Access Network (CAN) and the Youth Engagement Team Initiative (YETI)
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both physically and spiritually providing guidance, volunteers, and shelter to those in need of the community when called upon.
Pastor Blossom
will be dearly missed by his family, friends and many members of his congregations and the communities in which he served.
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Rose Kelly
Data Coordinator
Rose Kelly earned an AA in Psychology, as well as a BA and a Masters in Sociology from California State University San Marcos. Her background is primarily in data analytics and teaching sociology. In her most recent data analyst role she worked in a medical setting analyzing patterns and trends of chronic care health issues to improve care processes, patient outcomes and cost savings. As a Medical Literature researcher she worked with teams devoted to public education about care improvement using the most up-to-date best practices and requirements for patient care as defined by government entities. As a community college institutional research assistant her office partnered with various departments to collect and publish college statistics for government reporting. The office focused on evaluating the ever-changing needs of a diverse student population and services needed to ensure their success.
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Justin Lizon
Executive Assistant
Justin joined the CT Coalition to End Homelessness in October 2019. He is a graduate of Farmington High School and is a lifelong Connecticut resident. He previously worked as a legal assistant at two New Britain-based law firms, as a behavioral specialist working with adolescents on the autism spectrum, and most recently worked one-on-one with preschoolers with behavioral needs. At age 16, he became a state certified EMT-Basic. During his time volunteering, he became passionate about advocating for those too often left behind by society. In 2018 he completed his BA in Public Administration from Southern New Hampshire University with the goal of using data, evidence-based solutions, and participation of community stakeholders to remedy social problems. He is thrilled to join the team at CCEH as Executive Assistant providing administrative, operational, and logistical support to the organization and its staff. In his free time he enjoys reading, gardening, cooking- especially grilling, spending time outdoors, movies, aviation, traveling, and urban planning.
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Communications Coordinator
CCEH is seeking a talented, motivated Communications Coordinator to coordinate external communications for the organization. The successful candidate will work with colleagues to shape and coordinate communications to different stakeholder groups. This position will play a critical role in supporting the organization’s messaging in the press, through marketing materials, proposals and advocacy materials, in social media, and through major flagship events including the organization’s annual conference.
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News & Resources
Atlanta Journal-Constitution | August 2019
Guilford Patch | October 2019
Housing Wire | October 2019
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Upcoming Trainings & Events
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Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness
Connect with us
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