ODFC News
August 2022
Experts Gather to Discuss Ending Homelessness in Fairfield County
Norwalk, Conn. – Fairfield County and the city of Norwalk were hailed as an example to the rest of Connecticut during Opening Doors Fairfield County’s roundtable discussion on Monday.
The event gathered local and regional advocates and experts, landlords, and state-wide leaders to discuss trends in housing and services to the homeless, the successes Connecticut has made in this area, and examine obstacles to truly ending homelessness in Fairfield County.
“I am grateful so many people came out to dive into this important issue. By coming together to share best practices we can learn from one another, implement strategies that have proven effective, and end homelessness state-wide. At the end of the day, it’s about people,” said ODFC Co-Chair Cheryl Bell.
Norwalk’s system of care for those facing housing insecurity and homelessness begins with identifying people experiencing or approaching homelessness and diverting them to housing options like family or friends. There are crisis beds available for those who need immediate assistance, and financial counseling at the city’s shelter, Open Doors, to help with economic education and employment. The Norwalk Housing Authority has also created more mixed-income housing, providing affordable units in Fairfield County, which has the lowest rental vacancy in the nation, and incentives to landlords to participate in Section Eight housing.
Because of these systems, Norwalk’s successes in moving toward eradicating homelessness in the city include no households experiencing chronic homelessness, which is being without housing for at least a year, and the number of people experiencing homelessness is steadily decreasing.
“The ability to end homelessness is in our grasp,” said Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling.
In addition to local leaders, attendees heard from Connecticut Department of Housing Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno; HUD Regional Administrator, New England Region, Juana Matias; US Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) Senior Regional Advisor Nichele Carver; Office of the Secretary of HUD Senior Advisor for Housing & Services Richard Cho; and Westport First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker.
“What Fairfield County does really well, is using every tool in its toolkit to serve as many people as possible. It is important to educate your legislators and policymakers about what you do and why the funding is so important. It’s time to pull out all the stops to end homelessness for everyone,” said Senior Advisor for Housing & Services Richard Cho.
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