Yale Daily News

The Board of Alders’ Health and Human Services Committee met on Thursday to discuss New Haven’s efforts to address homelessness as winter approaches. 

The Office of Housing and Homelessness gave a presentation at the beginning of the meeting discussing their role collaborating with local homeless service providers to offer support to homeless people — including sheltering, housing, opportunities for employment and methods to encourage self-sufficiency. Homelessness levels have been rising in New Haven, city officials said.

According to Tirzah Kemp, New Haven’s community resilience director, 1196 homeless people currently live in Greater New Haven. 346 people are currently on the city’s shelter waitlist, Kemp added.

Officials said the city is expanding access to shelters with housing services and distributing funds to prevent people from becoming homeless, but they also encouraged state legislators to increase efforts to address homelessness on a regional level. 

“It’s not just about homelessness, but it is about making sure that individuals are connected to the resources for sustainability,” Kemp said.

So far, New Haven has opened two warming centers for the winter, now with additional regional support from neighboring towns for the first time, Kemp said.

The city’s cold weather plan will be implemented on Nov. 15 and remain in place through April 15. The city says it will open additional warming centers for the colder months. 

However, homelessness in New Haven is rising more than it has in the past, Kemp said.

“I really think it’s kind of this burst after COVID and the crisis and the complex issues people are facing have increased,” Kemp said. “I think right now there is a national climate, a political climate, that is definitely impacting resources”

Jorell Alford, who currently lives in a tent on the New Haven Green, said she lost her career at a hospital when she became homeless. She complained that local bathrooms close at midnight, so homeless people do not have access to them late at night.

“If you don’t have money to pee, and if you bring your cart or you look homeless, you get ostracized,” Alford said. 

People in need of human services-related assistance can reach the Greater New Haven Coordinated Access Network — a nonprofit collaboration — through the statewide 2-1-1 hotline.